King tides this winter: the dates, and why El Niño makes them matter
The highest tides of the 2026–27 winter fall on the mornings of November 23–26, December 22–25 and January 20–22, peaking at about 7.56 feet on December 24 — and El Niño stacks extra sea level and bigger surf on top of them.
- Highest predicted tide
- 7.56 ft · Dec 24, 8:29 a.m.
- Clusters
- Nov 23–26 · Dec 22–25 · Jan 20–22
- Time of day
- Mornings, ~7–9:30 a.m.
- NOAA station
- San Diego, 9410170
The short version
- NOAA predicts San Diego's highest tide of the winter at 7.56 ft (MLLW) around 8:29 a.m. on December 24, 2026.
- Three king-tide clusters: Nov 23–26, Dec 22–25 and Jan 20–22, all peaking in the morning between about 7 and 9:30 a.m.
- El Niño raises West Coast sea level because warm water expands, so the same predicted tide can run higher than the table says.
- In the 1982–83 El Niño, big waves on top of "astronomically high tides" damaged Scripps Pier beyond repair and flooded La Jolla's Marine Room.
- The same days bring the winter's lowest afternoon tides — down to about −1.97 ft on January 21.
A king tide isn't a special kind of tide. It's the name for the handful of highest tides of the year, when the moon is new or full and close to Earth and the sun is lined up behind it. In San Diego they arrive in winter, in the morning — and this winter they coincide with one of the strongest El Niños on record.
The 2026–27 king tide windows
Highest predicted tides at NOAA station 9410170 (San Diego). Heights in feet above mean lower low water.
| Date | Time | Predicted high (ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon Nov 23 | 7:15 a.m. | 7.09 |
| Tue Nov 24 | 7:53 a.m. | 7.37 |
| Wed Nov 25 | 8:34 a.m. | 7.45 |
| Thu Nov 26 (Thanksgiving) | 9:19 a.m. | 7.30 |
| Tue Dec 22 | 6:56 a.m. | 7.16 |
| Wed Dec 23 | 7:42 a.m. | 7.46 |
| Thu Dec 24 | 8:29 a.m. | 7.56 |
| Fri Dec 25 | 9:17 a.m. | 7.40 |
| Wed Jan 20 | 6:48 a.m. | 7.00 |
| Thu Jan 21 | 7:38 a.m. | 7.33 |
| Fri Jan 22 | 8:25 a.m. | 7.41 |
NOAA Tides & Currents predictions, station 9410170, local time, retrieved Sept 29, 2026. Open-coast beaches run within minutes of these times.
Why El Niño makes a king tide worse
Tide tables predict the astronomical tide only — the part caused by the moon and sun. They don't include what the ocean itself is doing. During a strong El Niño, warmer water expands and weaker winds let water pile up along the West Coast, so real water levels can run noticeably above the prediction. Add a winter storm's low pressure and a big swell, and a 7.5-foot table tide becomes something else.
“There was a lot of coastal damage because the big waves coincided with astronomically high tides. The risk of coastal damage and erosion events is higher for this winter.”
Alexander Gershunov, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, on the 1982–83 El Niño (CalMatters, Aug 2026)
Watch it — and help science while you do
The California Coastal Commission runs the California King Tides Project, which asks people to photograph the shoreline during king tides and upload the pictures through its website or app. The photos build a record of what everyday sea-level rise will look like. Past San Diego events have met at Black's Beach, Dike Rock in La Jolla, Kendall-Frost Marsh in Mission Bay and the Tijuana River Estuary.
- 01
Pick a spot you can photograph again
A seawall, a boardwalk, a storm drain outlet or a lifeguard tower gives a before-and-after reference.
- 02
Go 30–60 minutes before the peak
The water keeps rising toward the predicted time; you want the peak, not the start.
- 03
Shoot from a safe, dry place
Never turn your back on the waves at high tide — winter sets can run far higher than the ones before them.
- 04
Upload it
Submit through the Coastal Commission's King Tides Project page with the date, time and location.
KEEP READING
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
NOAA Tides & Currents · 2026-09-29
High/low predictions, MLLW datum, local time
California Coastal Commission · 2026-09-29
How to participate; past San Diego event locations
CalMatters · 2026-08-01
1982–83 Scripps Pier and Marine Room damage; Gershunov quote