See stunning sunset photos of king tide in Pismo Beach
Surfers, sightseers and seagulls all flocked to Pismo Beach on Monday evening to witness a stunning king tide at sunset.
King tides are the highest and lowest of the year, separated by less than 12 hours.
In San Luis Obispo County, the latest round of king tides started on Nov. 14, and continued through Tuesday.
According to PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey, the tides are highest during perihelion, when the Earth comes closest to the sun, and perigee, when the moon comes closest to the Earth.
“The gravitational forces’ tugging produces a tidal bulge — an area of higher sea level on the ocean’s surface,” Lindsey wrote in his Weather Watch column on Tuesday. “As Earth rotates eastward on its axis, the Central Coast moves into this bulge, which produces a flood tide and, eventually, a high tide.”
According to Lindsey, the maximum tidal range along the Central Coast ranges from more than 2 feet below the mean low water mark to more than 7 feet above it, for a tidal range of more than 9 feet.
During the most recent round of king tides, however, Lindsey predicted that high tides would range between 6.5 and 6.7 feet in the morning — followed by a minus low tide of 1.4 feet during the afternoon.
On Monday, high tide was at 9:45 a.m. at 6.79 feet above the mean low water mark, with the low tide at 5:05 p.m. at 1.4 feet below it. That means that the level of the sea shifted more than 8 feet in less than eight hours, resulting in powerful currents in local bays and estuaries.
Similar events will happen in December and January.
Tribune photographer David Middlecamp captured these photos of king tides in Pismo Beach.
Do you have photos or videos of king tides in San Luis Obispo County? Send them to editor Sarah Linn at slinn@thetribunenews.com.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 12:45 PM.
