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Known as a “King Tide” (or locally, a “WICKED wicked high tide”), these three high tides were over two feet higher than average and give us a glimpse of our average high tide sometime around or after mid-century. The Massachusetts King Tides Initiative documents the effects that extreme tide events have on the state’s beaches, coastal waterways, private property, and public infrastructure.

The Massachusetts Coast saw its highest tides in 2016 in mid-October, when the sun and the moon are aligned and the earth orbits closest to the sun.  This year, Boston Harbor’s highest annual tides were:

  • Monday, October 17, 12:31 pm
  • Tuesday, October 18, 1:21 pm
  • Wednesday, October 19, 2:13 pm

Boston Harbor Now, Mass Bays National Estuary Program, the New England Aquarium, UMass Sustainable Solutions Lab and the Museum of Science joined forces to crowdsource photos documenting portions of the Massachusetts coastline expected to flood during the King Tide.

South Shore:

  • Hingham Harbor: Iron Horse Monument, Rockland Street at the Weir River
  • Cohasset: Border Ave/Atlantic Ave, Jerusalem Road at Little Harbor
  • Scituate: Driftway Park, Harbormaster’s parking lot, Humarock, Rt. 3A Bridge across North River, Lighthouse Road
  • Duxbury: Duxbury Beach parking lot
  • Marshfield: Bay Avenue area of Green Harbor, especially around the Lobster Pound
  • Norwell: Canoe launch
  • Kingston: Landing Road

Go to MyCoast.org to see the photos taken during the King Tides.