King Tides 2023 Winter Swell Waves Black's Beach La Jolla San Diego California
What is a king tide?
The term king tide is generally used to describe the highest tides of the year. Tides are caused by the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun. Even though both the sun and moon influence our tides, the moon’s gravitational pull is about twice as strong than that of the sun. Therefore, we experience different tidal forces as a result of how far away the sun, moon, and earth respectively are from each other. When the earth, moon, and sun are near alignment we get a new moon (moon between the sun and earth) and full moon (earth between the moon and sun). This alignment causes an increase in the gravitational pull roughly twice a month called ‘spring tides’. The moon’s closest position to the earth is called a ‘perigee.’ When a full or new moon coincides with perigee we get perigean spring tides. These are slightly larger tidal events that happen about three or four times a year.
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When are the king tides for the 2023/2024 Winter?
This year King Tides are December 12-14, 2023, January 11-12, 2024, and February 9-10, 2024
Below is the tide predictions for Scripps Institution of Oceanography Pier in La Jolla, CA for the December 2023, January 2024, and February 2024 King Tides.
Date Day of Week
Time
Height (ft)
High or Low
2023/12/12 Tue 7:48 AM 6.8
H
2023/12/12
Tue 3:10 PM -1.1 L
2023/12/13
Wed 8:25 PM 6.9 H
2023/12/13
Wed 3:58 PM -1.2 L
2023/12/14
Thur 9:05 AM 6.9 H
2023/12/14 Thur 4:38 PM -1.2 L
2024/1/11 Thur 8:20 AM 7.2 H
2024/1/11 Thur 3:41 PM -1.7 L
2024/1/12 Fri 9:04 AM 7.2 H
2024/1/12
Fri 4:21 PM -1.7 L
2024/2/9
Fri 8:14 AM 7.1 H
2024/2/9
Fri 3:18 PM -1.8 L
2024/2/10
Sat 8:58 AM 7 H
2024/2/10
Sat 3:53 PM -1.7 L
Why is there interest in going to the coast during king tides?
The California coast is a dance of dynamic forces: waves, wind, rivers, rain, tectonic activity, and the engineering of human development. King tides provide a great opportunity to get a glimpse of what our coast may look like as sea-level rises. The water level reached by an extreme high tide today will be the same water level of more frequent moderate tides in the future. Seeing what areas flood during these events can help us plan for the future.
Flooded parking lot next to beach.
King tide surprise bonus:
Most tides in California are mixed semidiurnal. That means we typically get two high and two low tides in a 24-hr period. Because of this, not only does the king tide bring extreme high water levels, we also get very low tides. Roughly seven hours after the peak high tide, beach goers can see the splendor of tidepools, critters, and coast that typically remains hidden to those of us without gills.
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