Tides Reach New Heights Along the Coast
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Preliminary reports show Tuesday morning's high tide surpassed a previous record.
"It was a big day, California has experienced a lot of high tides recently along the coast, they have all been higher than normal, here locally we have received about 12-18 inches higher than normal, this morning it did break the record at 8.01 feet that happened about 10 a.m. this morning and we are expecting another high tide tomorrow as well," said Waterfront Public Information Officer Angela Rodriguez.
Rodriquez took a photo of near the travel lift pier as the tide neared the 8 foot mark.
"Basically all the gangways, everything was raised the boats were level with the ground level and it was interesting," said Rodriguez.
Students touring the harbor talked about the conditions.
Boat owners, including Kay Bohner, received emails from the waterfront about the conditions in advance and went to check on their boats and slips.
Chris Rowland, who lives on a motorboat in Marine 2, said friends often call and invite him to stay over when weather conditions seem risky, but he isn't worried and follows National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website that show graphs of record tides and predictions.
He said it will be important to pay attention this winter.
Tuesday's high tide happened at 10:13 in the morning and the low tide happened about 5:30 p.m.
The Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol and boaters keep an eye on conditions.
They said the Kelvin wave caused by El Nino's warm water off the coast and the full moon impacts the tide.
In the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard sailboats with tall masts can get stuck trying to fitting under the Channel Islands Blvd. bridge when the tide is especially high.
The water covered most of the pilings along the dock gangways that went straight out and even up in some cases by homes that line the harbor.
In Santa Barbara is seemed level with the parking lot.
"Basically all the gangways, everything was raised, the boats were level with the ground level and it was interesting," said Rodriguez.
Holly Lohuis Summer, who works at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, said she had to avoid flooding near the salt marsh in Carpinteria on her way to work.
People curious about the tides should remember not to turn their back on the waves and to stay a safe distance from the water.
The current appears to be stronger than usual as well.
According to NOAA the first high tides on Wednesday will happen after midnight followed by the second high tide around 10:53 a.m.
For more information visit https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions.html?id=
Your News Channel will have more on the high tides tonight on the news.
