The moon and sun have cooperated to provide a spectacle of the sea floor today as low tide stretches further than it has since June 20, 1951.
Today’s low tide in Victoria is predicted to drop to negative -0.1 metres shortly after 11 a.m. — which is unusually low, even for an Island.
Tides are low down in the Inner Harbour! #yyj pic.twitter.com/WyMjtpGL3m
— Victoria News (@VictoriaNews) June 15, 2018
June’s spring tides are usually the lowest tides on the coast, but today’s is the first of three extreme lows expected this summer. The moon, as expected, is responsible for all three according to Denny Sinnott, supervisor Tides, Currents and Water Levels, Canadian Hydrographic Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
“You’ve got the three things lining up all together,” Sinnott says. “We’re having a new moon, so the moon and sun are aligned … the gravitational pull to both is great at this time.”
The moon is also in perigee, its closest point of its orbit and it’s furthest north of the equator in its orbit.
“Today it is the lowest of the month at -0.1 metres but there’s another event in July,” Sinnott said.
The predictions for Victoria, are July 13 at -0.1 metres around 10 a.m. and Aug. 11 for 0.1 metres at 9:45 a.m.
The @gvicharbour is using the low tides to clean the harbour. So far they’ve found: a grocery cart, China dishes, pylons, a skateboard a suitcase and a whole lot of metal scraps #yyj pic.twitter.com/gYla8vSNmI
— Victoria News (@VictoriaNews) June 15, 2018
Further up Vancouver Island the tide varies slightly with today’s 0.4 metres expected shortly before 1 p.m, July 13 around 12:09 p.m. again at 0.4 metres, and Aug. 11 at 0.6 metres.
They’re not unusual lows for Campbell River which gets similar 0.4 or 0.5 in December as well.
Predictions can change up to a metre based on weather systems, which today appear fairly stable, Sinnott said.
“If we have a real high pressure system it’ll press the surface down,” he explained.
Visit waterlevels.gc.ca to find your highs and lows.
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