Oregon Coast King Tides Weekend Bit of a Wild Card - Flood Advisory Washington Coast

Published 11/15/24 at 6:05 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – Fairly high swells offshore and exceptionally high tides driven by king tides should combine for a somewhat eventful king tides session for today (Friday) through Sunday. Flooding is a possibility on the northern half of the Oregon coast while the whole Washington coast is under a flood advisory for Friday – with another possibly issued for Sunday. (Photo of Devil's Punchbowl / Carley Dangona, Oregon King Tides)

In the short, it's going to be a king tides weekend that's a bit of a wild card, one that will go up and down in dangers. You'll need to be prepared for things to go either way.

Both the Oregon King Tides Project and the Washington King Tides Project are asking people to photograph the region at high tide for the sake of science, but safety should be first in all aspects of this. It's still not guaranteed you'll get a major show of wild waves, but considering the incident in Cannon Beach this week where a woman was videoed nearly getting sucked into a major wave set, extreme caution should be exercised this weekend.

You can see the video on the Oregon Coast Beach Connection Facebook page.

Westerly swells in the teens will be happening early on Friday, just as king tides kick in. The National Weather Service (NWS) shows waves calming considerably later in the day and on Saturday, actually dropping below ten feet, but ticking up again on Sunday to the lower and mid teens.

King tides by themselves don't do much, but it's larger wave swells when combining with the Perigean tides that bring dangerous situations or dramatic scenes. See What's the Difference Between King Tides and Oregon / Washington Coast Storm Wave Events - Why king tides don't always mean big waves; advice for seeing them at Shore Acres

High tides times for the next three days vary somewhat along the Oregon coast, but they are close to noon up north and the farther south you go the closer the high tides are to 1 p.m. This, plus numerous flood advisories, mean you should take extra caution on beaches in the midday hours this weekend. Areas like Seaside, Manzanita, Rockaway Beach or Pacific City have greater chances of flooding than Bandon, Port Orford or Gold Beach.

Courtesy Oregon's Adventure Coast

On top of the larger swells, the period between swells is rather long (12 to 13 seconds in many cases), and that spells the greater expectations for not just bigger waves but more sneaker waves.

Saturday will likely be the least dramatic, but there could well still be unpleasant surprises.

On the entirety of the Washington coast, the NWS has issued a flood advisory until 2 p.m. Friday. Tidal overflow is expected around high tide, as far up as two feet above ground level in areas close to the shore. High tides peak around 11 a.m. That is for everything from Long Beach up into Forks.

See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather (including tides) - Inland Oregon Weather

“Minor tidal overflow flooding is possible along the south WA/north OR coast around high tide over the next few days as the Perigean spring tides continue, however the predicted total tide looks to be right at or just shy of meeting criteria for a Coastal Flood Advisory,” the NWS said. “The exception looks to be around high tide Sunday afternoon when the total tide is forecast to reach 11.6 feet.”

Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Flood advisories for Sunday may still come, the NWS said.

“Potential impacts include minor flooding and erosion in the low lying areas near bays, sloughs, Highway 101, and the lower reaches of the coastal rivers,” the NWS said.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

King Tides difference in Bandon

King Tides in Ocean Shores - courtesy Washington King Tides / Cherie Fisher

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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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