East Channel (narrows) tidal current predictions

Now

Flood 0.7 ktToward NE (51°)

Next slack

1:49 PMAKDT

Next max flood

1.6 kt11:12 AM

Next max ebb

2.1 kt5:20 PM

Knots along the channel: above the line the flood, running in toward NE (51°); below it the ebb, running out toward SW (229°). Times are Alaska Daylight Time. Today: slack 1:33 AM, ebb 2.0 kt 5:06 AM, slack 7:56 AM, flood 1.6 kt 11:12 AM, slack 1:49 PM, ebb 2.1 kt 5:20 PM, slack 8:17 PM, flood 1.6 kt 11:33 PM.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 27 at 8:32AM AKDT until September 28 at 7:00AM AKDT by NWS Juneau AKUntil Mon 7:00 AM
  Full text

  * WHAT...South winds 20 to 30 kt with gusts up to 35 kt and seas 8 to 13 ft. * WHERE...Cross Sound, Dixon Entrance to Cape Decision out to 15 NM, Cape Decision to Cape Edgecumbe out to 15 NM and Icy Cape to Cape Suckling out to 15 NM. * WHEN...Until 7 AM AKDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.

  Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller vessels, should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 27 at 6:41AM AKDT until September 28 at 5:00AM AKDT by NWS Juneau AKUntil Mon 5:00 AM
  Full text

  Southeast Alaska Coastal Waters from Dixon Entrance to Cape Suckling out 100 NM Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Seas forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. UPDATED ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH LATE TONIGHT... .REST OF TODAY...S wind 30 kt. Seas 13 ft. Showers and slight chance of thunderstorms. .TODAY...S wind 25 kt. Seas 13 ft. Showers and slight chance of thunderstorms. .TONIGHT...SW wind 15 kt. Seas 11 ft. Showers late. .MON...S wind 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. Showers. .MON NIGHT...S wind 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. Showers. .TUE...S wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. .WED...S wind 10 kt. Seas 7 ft. .THU...S wind 10 kt. Seas 5 ft.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 27 at 3:31AM AKDT until September 28 at 5:00AM AKDT by NWS Juneau AKUntil Mon 5:00 AM
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  Southeast Alaska Coastal Waters from Dixon Entrance to Cape Suckling out 100 NM Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Seas forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. .TODAY...S wind 25 kt. Seas 13 ft. Showers and slight chance of thunderstorms. .TONIGHT...SW wind 15 kt. Seas 11 ft. Showers late. .MON...S wind 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. Showers. .MON NIGHT...S wind 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. Showers. .TUE...S wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. .WED...S wind 10 kt. Seas 7 ft. .THU...S wind 10 kt. Seas 5 ft.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 26 at 3:27PM AKDT until September 27 at 5:00PM AKDT by NWS Juneau AKUntil 5:00 PM
  Full text

  Southeast Alaska Coastal Waters from Dixon Entrance to Cape Suckling out 100 NM Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Seas forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. .TONIGHT...S wind 20 kt. Seas 9 ft. Rain late. .SUN...S wind 25 kt. Seas 11 ft. Rain. .SUN NIGHT...SW wind 15 kt. Seas 11 ft. Rain late. .MON...SW wind 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. Rain. .MON NIGHT...S wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. Showers. .TUE...S wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. .WED...SE wind 10 kt. Seas 8 ft. .THU...SW wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft.

The flood is the tidal current running in from the sea, the ebb the current running back out. Slack water is the short turn between them, when the current is weakest: the time to cross a strong channel, anchor, or dive. Slack in a channel is not the time of high or low tide; it can come hours after.

Speeds are knots along the channel's main axis, and directions are degrees true toward which the water flows, as NOAA prints its tables. A current against the wind stands the waves up steep and close together.

Predictions are astronomical: the moon and the sun, not the weather. Strong wind, river flow after heavy rain and storm surge all change the real current. This is a subordinate station: NOAA predicts it from a nearby harmonic station by fixed corrections to the times and speeds of its slack waters and maxima, so the curve between them is less exact.

• West Channel (narrows)Subordinate current station1.7 mi
• Creek Point, 0.44 nmi SE ofHarmonic current station3.6 mi
• Whitestone Narrows, S of Whitestone PointHarmonic current station5.4 mi
• Wyvill ReefSubordinate current station7.0 mi
• Allan Pt., 1.5mile W of, Nakwasina PassageSubordinate current station7.2 mi
• Highwater Island, west ofSubordinate current station8.3 mi
• Zeal Point, 0.34 nmi SSW ofHarmonic current station8.6 mi
• Western ChannelHarmonic current station9.9 mi

• Tide times at Olga Point, Olga Strait 4.3 mi
• Tide times at Whitestone Narrows, Neva Strait 5.8 mi
• Tide times at Sitka 11 mi
• Forecast for Sitka, AK
• Open the live map with tidal currents
• All tidal current stations in Alaska

Tidal current predictions from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), station PCT4176, bin 1: original at NOAA. Marine alerts from the National Weather Service.