Who knows how tides and the moon work? Probably no one. Just kidding, the science is deeply well understood and has been for a very long time, but it still (at least to me) seems like a form of witchcraft that the position of the moon moves water around.
As you’re probably aware, it’s supermoon season again, meaning that the moon is at or close to its perigee – the closest point to the Earth in its orbit – and that means that the tides are going bonkers, the waters being compelled by their insane lust for the moon (I didn’t pay much attention in science).
As a result we’re seeing some hectic king tides in Australia, with a particularly strong one around Sydney harbour partially engulfing parts of the botanic gardens.
Today’s Sydney high tide was 2.03m .. bigger tide of 2.07 is due in a month pic.twitter.com/0X981RJyVW
— Joe O’Brien (@JoeDoesNews) December 5, 2017
You may have seen last night’s Supermoon, but did you know that this can cause a #kingtide? The higher than normal water levels have caused some flooding near Fleet Steps today, so please be careful if you’re in this area today until flooding subsides. #RBGSydney pic.twitter.com/WtoV1ds5AN
— The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (@BotanicSydney) December 5, 2017
High tide now at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens .. “Never seen it this high” says one gardener. A taste of things to come. pic.twitter.com/h7ICq6h2Qx
— Joe O’Brien (@JoeDoesNews) December 4, 2017
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Mohammed Nabi told the ABC that we’ll be seeing the highest tides of the year this week, thanks in part to the supermoon but also with some small contribution from the sun:
Around this time of the year, the gravitational pull of the sun combines with the gravitational pull of the moon to exacerbate high tide numbers. So from here on, spring tide numbers will be slightly higher. We are ever so slightly closer than at other times of the year, so what happens is that the sun plays a slightly bigger role as opposed to other times of the year when it’s almost negligible.
The tides are expected to go back to normal by about Thursday, so keep this in mind if the height of the water level is hugely impactful to what you do on a day-to-day basis.
