King tide - wikipedia King tide For other uses, see King Tide. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2012 ) The erosive effects of a king tide on the Gold Coast, Queensland `` King tide '' is a colloquial term for an especially high spring tide, such as a perigean spring tide. `` King tide '' is not a scientific term, nor is it used in a scientific context. Use of the term `` king tide '' originated in Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific nations to refer to an especially high tide that occurs only a few times per year. The term has now come to be used in North America as well, particularly in low - lying South Florida, where they cause sunny day tidal flooding. Definition King tides are simply the very highest tides. They are naturally occurring, predictable events. Tides are the movement of water across Earth 's surface caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon, Sun, and the rotation of Earth which manifest in the local rise and fall of sea levels. Tides are driven by the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, Moon, land formations, and relative location on Earth. In the lunar month, the highest tides occur roughly every 14 days, at the new and full moons, when the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun are in alignment. These highest tides in the lunar cycle are called spring tides. The proximity of the Moon in relation to Earth and Earth in relation to the Sun also has an effect on tidal ranges. The Moon moves around Earth in an elliptic orbit that takes about 29 days to complete. The gravitational force is greatest when the Moon is at perigee -- closest to Earth -- and least when it is at apogee -- farthest from Earth -- about two weeks after perigee. The Moon has a larger effect on the tides than the Sun, but the Sun 's position also has an influence on the tides. Earth moves around the Sun in an elliptic orbit that takes a little over 365 days to complete. Its gravitational force is greatest when the Earth is at perihelion -- closest to the Sun in early January -- and least when the Earth is at aphelion -- farthest from the Sun in early July. The king tides occur when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned at perigee and perihelion, resulting in the largest tidal range seen over the course of a year. So, tides are enhanced when the Earth is closest to the Sun around January 2 of each year. They are reduced when it is furthest from the Sun, around July 2. The predicted heights of a king tide can be further augmented by local weather patterns and ocean conditions. References Jump up ^ `` Hurricanes leave Florida coasts vulnerable to ' King tides ' ''. The Big Story. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 14. Jump up ^ Tidal Variations -- The Influence of Position and Distance NOAA ocean service education tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov External links oceanservice.noaa.gov -- NOAA National Ocean Service Tides and water levels -- NOAA tides tutorial King tides photo initiative -- North Carolina, US King tides photo initiative -- Washington State, US King tides photo initiative -- Oregon, US King tides photo initiative -- Long Island Sound, US King tides photo initiative -- Barnegat Bay, US King tides photo initiative -- Australia King tides photo initiative -- New South Wales, Australia www.thesinkingoftuvalu.com -- King Tide / The Sinking of Tuvalu Physical oceanography Waves Airy wave theory Ballantine scale Benjamin -- Feir instability Boussinesq approximation Breaking wave Clapotis Cnoidal wave Cross sea Dispersion Edge wave Equatorial waves Fetch Gravity wave Green 's law Infragravity wave Internal wave Iribarren number Kelvin wave Kinematic wave Longshore drift Luke 's variational principle Mild - slope equation Radiation stress Rogue wave Rossby wave Rossby - gravity waves Sea state Seiche Significant wave height Soliton Stokes boundary layer Stokes drift Stokes wave Swell Trochoidal wave Tsunami megatsunami Undertow Ursell number Wave action Wave base Wave height Wave power Wave radar Wave setup Wave shoaling Wave turbulence Wave -- current interaction Waves and shallow water one - dimensional Saint - Venant equations shallow water equations Wind wave model Circulation Atmospheric circulation Baroclinity Boundary current Coriolis force Coriolis -- Stokes force Craik -- Leibovich vortex force Downwelling Eddy Ekman layer Ekman spiral Ekman transport El Niño -- Southern Oscillation General circulation model Geostrophic current Global Ocean Data Analysis Project Gulf Stream Halothermal circulation Humboldt Current Hydrothermal circulation Langmuir circulation Longshore drift Loop Current Modular Ocean Model Ocean dynamics Ocean gyre Princeton Ocean Model Rip current Subsurface currents Sverdrup balance Thermohaline circulation shutdown Upwelling Whirlpool World Ocean Circulation Experiment Tides Amphidromic point Earth tide Head of tide Internal tide Lunitidal interval Perigean spring tide Rip tide Rule of twelfths Slack water Tidal bore Tidal force Tidal power Tidal race Tidal range Tidal resonance Tide gauge Tideline Landforms Abyssal fan Abyssal plain Atoll Bathymetric chart Coastal geography Cold seep Continental margin Continental rise Continental shelf Contourite Guyot Hydrography Oceanic basin Oceanic plateau Oceanic trench Passive margin Seabed Seamount Submarine canyon Submarine volcano Plate tectonics Convergent boundary Divergent boundary Fracture zone Hydrothermal vent Marine geology Mid-ocean ridge Mohorovičić discontinuity Vine -- Matthews -- Morley hypothesis Oceanic crust Outer trench swell Ridge push Seafloor spreading Slab pull Slab suction Slab window Subduction Transform fault Volcanic arc Ocean zones Benthic Deep ocean water Deep sea Littoral Mesopelagic Oceanic Pelagic Photic Surf Swash Sea level Deep - ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis Future sea level Global Sea Level Observing System North West Shelf Operational Oceanographic System Sea - level curve Sea level rise World Geodetic System Acoustics Deep scattering layer Hydroacoustics Ocean acoustic tomography Sofar bomb SOFAR channel Underwater acoustics Satellites Jason - 1 Jason - 2 ( Ocean Surface Topography Mission ) Jason - 3 Related Argo Benthic lander Color of water DSV Alvin Marginal sea Marine energy Marine pollution Mooring National Oceanographic Data Center Ocean Ocean exploration Ocean observations Ocean reanalysis Ocean surface topography Ocean thermal energy conversion Oceanography Pelagic sediment Sea surface microlayer Sea surface temperature Seawater Science On a Sphere Thermocline Underwater glider Water column World Ocean Atlas Commons Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=King_tide&oldid=784217186 '' Categories : Tides Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from September 2012 All articles needing additional references Talk About Wikipedia Magyar Edit links This page was last edited on 7 June 2017, at 02 : 35. 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Question: when do the highest tides of the year occur
Answer: around January 2 of each year