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King Tides
updated: Feb 05, 2012, 9:13 AM

By David Powdrell

A king tide is a particularly high tide that rolls into town when the Earth, moon and sun are aligned just right. It's called perigee and perihelion in the world of science.

The moon has a larger effect on the tides than the sun, according to Wikipedia. The gravitational force of the moon is greatest when the moon is closest to the earth (perigee), which is just about now.

But the sun also has an influence. When the Earth is closest to the sun, it's referred to as perihelion. Put perigee and perihelion together and, voila, king tides.

King tides will be in Santa Barbara the next few days. Per my iPhone app, Monday morning, February 6th at 8:12 a.m. and Tuesday morning, February 7th at 8:54 a.m. should be the optimum peaks at 6.2 feet.

It should make for some interesting photos, particularly where there's surf. Check it out if you get a chance.

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