What's the Difference Between King Tides and Oregon / Washington Coast Storm Wave Events

Published 11/12/24 at 1:55 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Newport, Oregon) – King Tides along the Oregon and Washington coast has become quite the attraction all on its own, but maybe in spite of itself. (Hug Point courtesy Seaside Aquarium)

Thanks to going so viral, it's actually not quite what people think it is. There's considerable mislabeling at times on the net, especially when a large-scale storm event churns up incredibly big waves.

The question often gets asked:

What's the difference between king tides and a large wave event?

That's really easy on one level: storm systems are common along the Oregon coast and can bring in large waves crashing onshore. King tides only happen a few times during the year and don't create enormous breakers by themselves. This only happens when big storm events coincide with a king tide, piling up on top of the higher-than-usual tides.

As National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Brian Nieuwenhuis put it: king tides are just extremely high tides and aren't a big deal on their own. He said he sees a lot of confusion out on the net with people posting photos of big waves and referencing king tides.

Photo of Yachats courtesy Carley Dangona / Oregon King Tides

“A King Tide is an un-official term for a higher than normal tide (frequently the highest high tides of the year), that typically occurs during a new or full moon and when the Moon is at its perigee (closest to the earth)” Nieuwenhuis said. “In Oregon, this occurs roughly between November and February. In Oregon, a King tide is only about a foot or two higher than a normal high tide.

“Large storm wind events produce large waves, which come and go with the storm, completely independent of the tides. These waves can be significantly larger than the tide itself, with 20-ft waves pretty common along the Oregon coast during storm season.”

'Wave Height' Explained Along Oregon, Washington Coast: What It Means

If you want to catch big wave action, you're better off waiting until there's a high surf advisory or warning for the coastline.

“So, a King Tide doesn't do much by itself, other than raising water levels higher than normal,” Nieuwenhuis said. “If you have a storm move onshore during a King Tide, that extra foot or two along with rainfall, increased river flows, and larger waves can lead to an increased chance for erosion, flooding, or beach inundation, all of which we have seen many times along the Oregon coast.”

Coos Bay, courtesy Oregon King Tides / Robert Moore

The King Tides Project in Oregon and Washington is still important: they need people to photograph these large-scale tides to see the difference between present day tidelines on those in the future, as sea levels rise.

Then, if a storm coincides with the king tides (as they have often in previous winters), then it can be a “bit more spectacular than normal,” Nieuwenhuis said.

One of the major points of interest for these events is Shore Acres down on the south coast, near Coos Bay. There, Janice Langlinais is head of the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor & Convention Bureau, and she likes to make sure people know what they're going into if they hit that spot for king tides.

Shore Acres courtesy Oregon King Tides / Ed Louie

“We want people to come and see how high the tides can get during a King Tide but was also do not want them to be disappointed if there is not a corresponding High Surf to create the awe-inspiring wave crashes we see at Shore Acres State Park,” Langlinais said. “We have already seen quite an active High Surf season on the Southern Oregon Coast with at least four High Surf Advisories since early October. Perhaps this will be the year we see a High Surf event coincide with a King Tide!”

So, need some advice on what to look for in wave predictions to see a good show at Shore Acres?

“The threshold we look for is about 20 feet but anything between 16 and 20 we will start looking at,” she said. “But for really good wave crashes 22 to 30 is ideal.”

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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