Tides??? Why so irregular?

[soltari675]

It would be easier to show in a picture. Wish I was there still. Here is a basic explanation of tides and currents:

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/alligator/lessonspdf/currentstide_lessonplan.pdf

Currents also play a huge role in the tides. Think of the water as a bouncing ball down the coast. Water rushes against one coast and is deflected by the coast line. Depending on the shape of that coast, the water rushes away, and comes back somewhere down the coast. The coast line in between will not rise as fast as the areas the water rushed against. Does that make sense? So they are both starting to rise the same time, but because of the currents, some areas will rise faster.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

The tides in any set location are not "irregular" - they cycle on the same frequency.

There is an offset in high tide from a chart (based on one location) to a location not on that chart (different location). Once you know the offset, you can predict the tides.