King Tide Project, Third Series

King Tide at Winema Beach.\Photo by Jean Cameron.

The final round of the 2017-2018 King Tide Project, through which volunteer photographers document the highest tides of the year, takes place January 2-4, 2018.  The project reveals areas currently prone to flooding, but more important, gives us a preview of the coast in coming decades as sea level rises due to climate change.  This is valuable citizen science, and while photos of waves overtopping structures and roads are most dramatic, photos taken at the highest reach of the tide anywhere on the coast, around estuaries or in lower river floodplain areas is of use.

See our article on the project, mark your calendars, and plan to participate.  The high tides for this round are in the middle of the day.  For instance, 11:40 a.m. is the moment of the highest reach of the tide on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at Newport.  Of course the time will vary slightly for other locations on that day, and change for the other days in the tide sequence (coming at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 3, and 1:22 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4, in Newport).  Information on how to participate and post photos can be found on the project’s website, http://www.oregonkingtides.net/. 

The results from previous years are available for view on a special Flickr site.

For information about the project, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatch volunteer coordinator, at (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org, or Meg Reed, Coastal Shores Specialist with the Department of Land Conservation and Development, at (541) 574-0811, meg.reed@state.or.us.