King tides: the highest tides of 2026, 2027 and 2028

A king tide is just an unusually high tide — the highest the moon and the sun can pull on their own, with no storm helping. Nobody publishes a king-tide calendar, but NOAA publishes tide predictions years ahead, and these are the days those predictions run highest on each coast.

What a king tide is

NOAA calls it a non-scientific term people often use to describe exceptionally high tides, and says the higher-than-normal ones typically occur during a new or full moon and when the Moon is at its perigee, or during specific seasons around the country.

Perigee is the point in the month where the moon is closest to us. When that lines up with a new or full moon — which NOAA puts at often between 6-8 times a year — the pull of the two is at its strongest and the tide reaches further up the beach than usual. NOAA's own measure of the size of it: it is not uncommon for high tides during a perigean spring tide to be more than a foot higher than the high tides two weeks either side.

What is a king tide? and What is a perigean spring tide?, NOAA National Ocean Service.

The highest tides of 2026

Coast Days the tide runs highest How high it gets Predictions read at
The Northeast Atlantic
  • May 16–18
  • Jun 14–16
  • Jul 13–15
 5.7 ft 20 in above an ordinary high tide here the Atlantic City pier station Atlantic City, New Jersey
The Mid-Atlantic
  • May 15–19
  • Jun 13–17
  • Jul 12–16
 3.1 ft 10 in above an ordinary high tide here the Ocean City inlet station Ocean City, Maryland
The Carolinas and Georgia
  • May 16–18
  • Oct 26–29
  • Nov 24–26
 6.9 ft 21 in above an ordinary high tide here the Springmaid Pier station Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Florida's Atlantic coast
  • Oct 10–11
  • Oct 25–29
  • Nov 23–27
 4.0 ft 13 in above an ordinary high tide here the Lake Worth Pier station Palm Beach, Florida
Florida's Gulf coast
  • Jun 14–17
  • Jul 13–16
  • Aug 10–13
 3.6 ft 15 in above an ordinary high tide here the Clearwater Beach station Clearwater Beach, Florida
The western Gulf
  • May 16–20
  • Jun 13–16
  • Oct 25–31
 2.4 ft 10 in above an ordinary high tide here the Galveston north jetty station Galveston, Texas
Southern California
  • Jun 14–15
  • Jul 12–14
  • Dec 23–25
 7.3 ft 31 in above an ordinary high tide here the Santa Monica pier station Santa Monica, California
The Pacific Northwest
  • Jan 3
  • Nov 25
  • Dec 23–25
 11.0 ft 39 in above an ordinary high tide here the La Push river-mouth station La Push, Washington
Hawaii
  • Jun 13–16
  • Jul 11–15
  • Dec 22–26
 2.7 ft 15 in above an ordinary high tide here the Honolulu Harbor station Honolulu, Hawaii
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands No stretch of days stands out — the whole year's high tides here sit within a few inches of each other. 1.0 ft 4 in above an ordinary high tide here the Christiansted Harbor station Christiansted, St. Croix

The highest tides of 2027

Coast Days the tide runs highest How high it gets Predictions read at
The Northeast Atlantic
  • Jun 4–6
  • Jul 3–5
  • Aug 1–3
 5.7 ft 19 in above an ordinary high tide here the Atlantic City pier station Atlantic City, New Jersey
The Mid-Atlantic
  • Jul 31 – Aug 4
  • Sep 27 – Oct 4
  • Oct 27 – Nov 1
 3.1 ft 11 in above an ordinary high tide here the Ocean City inlet station Ocean City, Maryland
The Carolinas and Georgia
  • Aug 2
  • Sep 30 – Oct 2
  • Oct 28–30
 6.9 ft 22 in above an ordinary high tide here the Springmaid Pier station Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Florida's Atlantic coast
  • Sep 29 – Oct 2
  • Oct 27–31
  • Nov 15
 4.0 ft 14 in above an ordinary high tide here the Lake Worth Pier station Palm Beach, Florida
Florida's Gulf coast
  • Jul 3–5
  • Jul 31 – Aug 3
  • Aug 29 – Sep 1
 3.7 ft 16 in above an ordinary high tide here the Clearwater Beach station Clearwater Beach, Florida
The western Gulf
  • Jun 3–7
  • Oct 16–20
  • Oct 27 – Nov 2
 2.3 ft 9 in above an ordinary high tide here the Galveston north jetty station Galveston, Texas
Southern California
  • Jan 21–22
  • Jul 3–4
  • Jul 31 – Aug 2
 7.3 ft 31 in above an ordinary high tide here the Santa Monica pier station Santa Monica, California
The Pacific Northwest
  • Jan 21–23
 10.8 ft 36 in above an ordinary high tide here the La Push river-mouth station La Push, Washington
Hawaii
  • Jul 1–5
  • Jul 30 – Aug 2
  • Dec 13–15
 2.7 ft 15 in above an ordinary high tide here the Honolulu Harbor station Honolulu, Hawaii
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands No stretch of days stands out — the whole year's high tides here sit within a few inches of each other. 1.1 ft 4 in above an ordinary high tide here the Christiansted Harbor station Christiansted, St. Croix

The highest tides of 2028

Coast Days the tide runs highest How high it gets Predictions read at
The Northeast Atlantic
  • Sep 20–21
  • Oct 18–20
  • Nov 16–17
 5.8 ft 21 in above an ordinary high tide here the Atlantic City pier station Atlantic City, New Jersey
The Mid-Atlantic
  • Sep 19–22
  • Oct 17–21
  • Nov 16–17
 3.3 ft 12 in above an ordinary high tide here the Ocean City inlet station Ocean City, Maryland
The Carolinas and Georgia
  • Sep 20
  • Oct 17–20
 7.3 ft 26 in above an ordinary high tide here the Springmaid Pier station Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Florida's Atlantic coast
  • Sep 19–20
  • Oct 17–20
  • Nov 15–17
 4.2 ft 16 in above an ordinary high tide here the Lake Worth Pier station Palm Beach, Florida
Florida's Gulf coast
  • Jul 21–23
  • Aug 18–21
  • Sep 16–18
 3.6 ft 15 in above an ordinary high tide here the Clearwater Beach station Clearwater Beach, Florida
The western Gulf
  • May 8–10
  • Oct 17–22
  • Nov 15–18
 2.4 ft 10 in above an ordinary high tide here the Galveston north jetty station Galveston, Texas
Southern California
  • Jan 11–13
  • Jul 20–22
  • Nov 15–17
 7.0 ft 28 in above an ordinary high tide here the Santa Monica pier station Santa Monica, California
The Pacific Northwest
  • Jan 11–13
  • Nov 15–17
  • Dec 15
 10.7 ft 35 in above an ordinary high tide here the La Push river-mouth station La Push, Washington
Hawaii
  • Jul 19–23
  • Nov 15–19
  • Dec 13–17
 2.6 ft 14 in above an ordinary high tide here the Honolulu Harbor station Honolulu, Hawaii
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands No stretch of days stands out — the whole year's high tides here sit within a few inches of each other. 1.0 ft 4 in above an ordinary high tide here the Christiansted Harbor station Christiansted, St. Croix

How these days were picked

One NOAA station stands for each coast — the same stations this site reads water temperature from. For each one we read the whole year of NOAA's predicted high and low waters, took the single highest high water of the year, and kept every day whose own highest tide comes within 3 inches of it. Days that run together are shown as one stretch, and each coast gets its three highest stretches of the year.

Heights are feet above MLLW — mean lower low water, the zero that NOAA's charts and predictions are measured from. The second figure is the plainer one: how far that day's tide stands above an average high tide at the same station.

Where a coast shows no stretch at all, 3 inches is simply too coarse a sieve for it: the tide barely moves there, so no few days of the year stand out from the rest. Saying so is a truer answer than naming dates the water does not respect.

All of it from NOAA's tide predictions, NOAA Tides & Currents (CO-OPS). Each station above links to its own predictions, so any row here can be checked against the source.

What these dates do not tell you

They are the astronomy and nothing else. NOAA is plain about it: we can only predict the astronomical tides, and We cannot predict the effect that wind, rain, freshwater runoff, and other short-term meteorological events will have on the tides. In Chesapeake Bay, NOAA notes, a wind along the length of the bay has been known to put the water one to two feet above or below what the tables said.

So a king tide is not a flood warning and this is not a flood forecast. A high tide on this list with an onshore wind behind it is a very different afternoon from the same tide on a still day — which is why NOAA tracks high tide flooding separately, and why the place to look on the day is your local forecast, not a date on a page.

From NOAA's tides and currents FAQ, NOAA Tides & Currents.

Warm water says nothing about surf, rip currents, or bacteria — check local lifeguard flags and advisories.

The Great Lakes do not get king tides

There are real tides on the Great Lakes — NOAA says True tides—changes in water level caused by the gravitational forces of the sun and moon—do occur in a semi-diurnal (twice daily) pattern on the Great Lakes — but the biggest of them is less than five centimeters in height, about two inches, so the Great Lakes are considered to be non-tidal.

What does move the water on a lake beach is a seiche: wind and pressure tipping the whole lake to one end and letting it rock back, which NOAA describes as an oscillating wave which can be several feet high and says is frequently mistaken for a tide. It is weather, not the moon, so it is in the forecast rather than on any calendar.

From Do the Great Lakes have tides?, NOAA National Ocean Service.

Which beaches sit on each coast

The water temperature for every beach on these coasts, month by month and right now:

All beaches, state by state