FILE - In this image provided by the Oregon King Tides Project, waves from king tides are shown in Charleston, Ore., on Nov. 6, 2021.
Oregon King Tides Project
Storm watching is expected to be good along the Oregon and Washington coasts this weekend as king tides will bring high seas.
King tides are the highest winter tides of the year, when big waves explode off the cliffs and entire bays can be white with seafoam and peppered with logs.
Photographers and tourists are drawn to the spectacle. Authorities welcome the attention, but they’re warning people not to get too close due to the potential of being swept away.
“We encourage people to watch from a safe distance from a location well above the action, away from cliff edges,” said Stefanie Knowlton with Oregon State Parks.
She warned that visitors should not be fooled by the availability of beachside parking.
“Sometimes the parking lots look like they’re relatively safe, but that doesn’t mean the trail and beaches are safe,” she said. “Avoid being on the beach at high tide, and jetties are definitely not safe places to watch the tide.”
Knowlton said people should pay attention to fences and safety barriers, especially near cliff edges, as bad weather can quickly cause erosion.
King tides occur when the sun, moon, and Earth are aligned.
“This puts an extra strong pull on the oceans across the world, and so it creates really high tides and really low tides,” said Rhiannon Bezore with the Department of Land Conservation and Development.
The agency is asking people to send in any pictures they might take because it gives researchers an idea of what sea level rise might look like in the future.
“So areas that are already flooding today, could potentially be spots that we want to pay more attention to and maybe plan for for future sea level rise,” said Bezore.
The Oregon King Tides Project has been documenting king tides for the last 14 years, allowing researchers to track how erosion happens over time.
Photographers are asked to upload their pictures to oregonkingtides.net
It’s not just high waves that attract people to the coast during king tides. At low tides, after the turmoil, people can find plenty of treasures, from petrified wood to agates and sea glass.
Oregon State Parks recommends these places to watch from a safe distance:
- Otter Crest State Scenic Viewpoint.
- Yachats State Recreation Area.
- Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor.
- Harris Beach State Park.
King tides this winter happen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as well as Dec. 13-15, and Jan. 11-13.