The highest predicted waters at Lafitte, through 2030. Every high tide reaching 7.00 ft above MLLW.
What counts as a king tide
There is no official definition. NOAA does not publish one, and the
California King Tides Project simply means the highest predicted tides of
the year. This page lists every predicted high water of
7.0 ft or more above MLLW, which on this stretch of coast picks out
the handful of days each winter when the water comes up unusually far.
They happen when the moon is closest to Earth and new or full at the same
time, with the Earth near its own closest approach to the sun. That
alignment stacks the solar and lunar pulls together, and it lands in
November, December and January far more often than not.
These are predictions of astronomical tide only. A winter storm arriving on
a king tide is what causes flooding, because surge and wind can add a foot
or more on top of the figures here.
What a king tide means at Lafitte
The highest tides of the year come over the low roads and into the camps, and on this coast that happens more readily than it used to — the land is sinking as the sea rises, and a tide that was once remarkable is now merely annual.
Add a south wind and the same tide reaches considerably further. The figures here are astronomical only; anything blowing onshore adds to them.