King tide

birchbaykingtide
Photo by Warren Stirling for the Bellingham Herald.

In our new home at Birch Bay, we are learning things about the ocean that we did not previously know. King tide is a popular, non scientific name for an exceptionally high tide. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that tides are influenced by the moon. It turns out, however, that it is a bit more complex than just the gravity of the moon. The rising and falling of the tide is a product of the interaction of the gravity of both the sun and the moon. The moon has a stronger gravitational pull on the earth and is a bigger factor in the changing of the tides. The moon orbits the earth. Each orbit takes 28 days. The path of the moon is elliptical, so sometimes it is closer to the earth and other times it is farther away. The pull of the moon’s gravity is strongest when it is at perigee - closest to the earth. During a full moon, and again during the new moon, the earth, sun, and moon all line up and the sun’s gravitational pull is added to that of the moon. This is called a spring tide. when a spring tide occurs during perigee the scientific name for the phenomenon is perigean-spring tide. The common name for that occurrence is a king tide.

King tides occur two or three times each year and coastal areas are prone to the battering of high waves. Yesterday here at Birch Bay the king tide was combined with strong winds of 20 to 30 with gusts to 40 mph. The combination of the high tide with the wind caused the waves to be especially high yesterday afternoon. Waves crashed onto beachfront properties and the water rose above the banks where Terrell Creek flows into the ocean. We live far enough away from the beach that there was no danger to our home. About an hour after the peak tide, we decided to walk down to the beach to take a look. It was pretty dramatic to see all of the flotsam that had washed up onto the street and the area next to the beach. The tide had receded by the time we got down next to the beach, but we could see debris scattered around. The waves had washed up parts of fences that extended between homes. A trash can that normally sits in a parking area near the beach was washed up on the road. County crews had closed part of the road and were hard at work clearing debris from the roadway. You could see where water had washed over the road.

The king tide is not surprising to those who are used to living near the ocean. I’m not sure why they build certain items so close to the water. I think that if I were a property owner I wouldn’t be interested in rebuilding the fences that were washed away by yesterday’s tide. It also seems to me that there are a few houses that are simply too close to the water to be practical. I read on the web site of the local newspaper that about 20 homes experienced damage caused by yesterday’s king tide.

I don’t remember hearing about king tides before. If I did, I didn’t retain the information. King tides aren’t a big factor in any of the other places where we have lived. There are no king tides in South Dakota.

All in all yesterday was a relatively dramatic news day when it came to the weather. In addition to the king tide at the beach, all of the roads that cross the Cascade mountain passes in Washington were closed yesterday due to heavy snow and avalanche danger. Temperatures rose and the rain came, melting the snow in the lowlands and causing flooding on rivers. South of Olympia at Chehalis, river flooding closed a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 for several hours. With Interstate 5 closed and Interstate 90 closed at the mountain pass, those traveling from Seattle had their plans disrupted. Evacuations were ordered in several places due to record flooding. The governor issued an emergency weather proclamation over the heavy rain and snowmelt. There are flood watches and warnings along many creeks and rivers that flow into the ocean.

Meanwhile, we are safe and largely unaffected by all of this dramatic weather. It didn’t rain as much as was forecast and we had mostly sunny skies yesterday. Although temperatures moderated yesterday, it didn’t get quite as warm as the forecast predicted. Temperatures are right at the freezing point now and we could get freezing rain and even a bit more snow later this morning. We won’t be traveling any farther than the church in the next few days, but my sister, who has been visiting us is planning to drive to Portland, Oregon today if the roads are open, which seems to be likely. A bit of caution for slippery roads will be in order between our house and the Interstate, but she shouldn’t have any trouble with the rest of the trip. Had she left yesterday, she would have experienced hours of delay due to the closed Interstate.

Since we experienced travel delays a little over a year ago when going between here and Rapid City, we know that delays are just a part of winter travel. Flexibility is required when the weather turns harsh. Good tires, an emergency kit, some winter driving experience, and a bit of common sense make it possible to get around most of the time during the winter.

People keep saying that the weather is more mild here than it is where we have previously lived. It seems like that to us, but we also are aware that there have been a lot of uncommon weather events since we have moved. High water is part of global climate change and more dramatic coastal flooding is likely to continue in the years to come. We’ll keep our eyes on the forecast and plan travel with a bit of caution.

Mostly we just enjoy getting out and seeing what is happening. Today promises another king tide, a bit lower than yesterday, but probably still worth a walk to the beach to see what is happening.

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