Living in San Mateo County you might hear the phrase “king tide” mentioned, but do you know what it actually means? A topic of curiosity by beach-goers and scientists alike, king tides are interesting marine phenomena, opportunities for exploration, and time-machines all wrapped up in one 6-hour event.
What is a King Tide?
King tides are exceptionally high tides that occur a few times each year. They happen when the moon is both as close as it can get to earth and in line with the sun (refer to the illustration below). On those special days, when the gravity of the moon and sun act on the earth in a single direction, we see the ocean rise to its highest highs and lowest lows.
Why do they matter?
What comes in, must go out! While king tides are mostly known for their capacity to flood our coastal communities and mimic future climate change and sea-level rise problems, their corresponding low tides are a great time to explore tide pools. During the last king tide on January 10-12, residents of San Mateo County flocked to the coast. Hopefully, they all had good tidepool etiquette and carefully kept the exposed animals and ecosystem safe.
But the value of king tides doesn’t stop there! As the Exploratorium’s Lori Lambertson points out, “Today’s king tides are tomorrow’s regular high tides.” King tides help us visualize what the coastline may look like in the future of global climate change. As greenhouse gas emissions warm our planet and climate systems become destabilized, we’re on course to face potentially dramatically higher sea levels and more frequent storm surges. King tides help us see how our communities will be affected by these rising seas and more frequent storms.
In light of the window that king tides give us into a future with higher seas, the California Coastal Commission has created a project to help document how these changes may impact different parts of the coast.
If you have photos from the last king tide or take any during the one on February 8-9, you can submit them to the California King Tides Project and they’ll be added to the map below. With the help of residents like you, we can gather valuable information that will help us prepare our communities for the future. The County of San Mateo’s Office of Sustainability is also doing a lot of work to better understand the future of sea-level rise in our area and what local municipalities can do to plan for a future of change. Click here to learn more about these local climate change efforts.
Do you have questions about what Flows To Bay is doing to adapt to the precipitation related impacts of climate change in San Mateo County? We’re here for you! Contact us here.
