Groton, Thames River, Pier 6 tidal current predictions

Now

SlackTurning

Next slack

12:09 PMEDT

Next max flood

0.4 kt9:06 PM

Next max ebb

0.2 kt2:15 PM

Knots along the channel: above the line the flood, running in toward NW (311°); below it the ebb, running out toward SE (132°). Times are Eastern Daylight Time. Today: ebb 0.2 kt 1:46 AM, slack 4:58 AM, flood 0.5 kt 8:35 AM, slack 12:09 PM, ebb 0.2 kt 2:15 PM, slack 6:15 PM, flood 0.4 kt 9:06 PM.

None right now. The National Weather Service issues small craft advisories, gale and storm warnings, special marine warnings, dense fog advisories and coastal flood products for water like this.

• Measured, along the channel
• Predicted

A NOAA PORTS current meter, bin 9. Wind, river flow and storm surge push the real current off the prediction; the meter measures the difference.

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.

• Smith CoveHarmonic current station0.4 mi
• U.S. Coast Guard AcademyHarmonic current station1.3 mi
• New London State PierHarmonic current station2.4 mi
• Fort Trumbull State ParkHarmonic current station3.2 mi
• Allyn PointHarmonic current station3.6 mi
• New London Harbor entranceHarmonic current station5.1 mi
• Niantic (Railroad Bridge)Subordinate current station6.3 mi
• Thames River ApproachHarmonic current station6.8 mi

• Tide times at New London 1.4 mi
• Tide times at Yale boathouse 2.6 mi
• Tide times at Niantic, Niantic River 6.7 mi
• Forecast for Conning Towers-Nautilus Park, CT
• Open the live map with tidal currents
• All tidal current stations in Connecticut

Tidal current predictions and real-time current measurements (PORTS) from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), station nl0101, bin 9: original at NOAA. Marine alerts from the National Weather Service.