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Christmas King Tides Update
Dec 27, 2022
By Kwiaht
If you were in any doubt about it, Tuesday morning’s high tide was a record-breaker.
While the astronomical tide was **only** +9.0 feet, storm winds pushed it up nearly two more feet in Fisherman Bay. Sustained southeasterly winds were in the range of 20-30 miles per hour, and our Doppler instrument at Weeks Wetland recorded gusts as high as 56.7 mph. We observed tidal flooding across Weeks Point Road, and about halfway across Bayshore Road at the Otis Perkins bend. More than half of the Weeks Wetland preserve was submerged.

Today’s was the highest tide we have recorded in Fisherman Bay since we began making measurements 13 years ago. The runner-up was December 10, 2014, which lost by about six inches. Several other “king tides” since 2011 have just topped +10 feet.

The attached photo compares the bend at Otis Perkins during the 2014 high tide (thanks to Dandy Porter and her dog!) with this morning’s tide. Note the debris that washed in today.
This is a powerful demonstration that shoreline roads and homes are already at risk from the increasing storminess of our winters, long before the islands experience any noticeable sea level rise. The storms of the 2020s-2030s will likely result in more frequent tides of +11 feet and some even higher.

If you have photos of your shoreline from this morning that you are willing to share, please email them to info@kwiaht.org

And watch for notices on Lopez Rocks for a video on our oyster-breakwater project last summer, and a live winter workshop on ecologically sound and simple shoreline defenses!
Comparing the height of 2014 and 2022 king tides at Otis Perkins