Hatteras Inlet tidal current predictions

Now

Flood 1.8 ktToward NW (307°)

Next slack

11:03 AMEDT

Next max flood

2.1 kt8:14 PM

Next max ebb

2.5 kt1:38 PM

Knots along the channel: above the line the flood, running in toward NW (307°); below it the ebb, running out toward SSE (148°). Times are Eastern Daylight Time. Today: ebb 2.6 kt 1:18 AM, slack 5:25 AM, flood 2.2 kt 7:52 AM, slack 11:03 AM, ebb 2.5 kt 1:38 PM, slack 5:46 PM, flood 2.1 kt 8:14 PM, slack 11:22 PM.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 26 at 6:10AM EDT until September 26 at 8:00PM EDT by NWS Newport/Morehead City NCUntil 8:00 PM
  Full text

  * WHAT...Northwest winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts up to 30 kt and rough waters. * WHERE...Pamlico Sound. * WHEN...Until 8 PM EDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Moderate winds will continue to impact the inland rivers and sounds as a Nor'easter moves slowly north off the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

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

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.

• Teaches Hole ChannelSubordinate current station17 mi
• Ocracoke Inlet, channel entranceSubordinate current station18 mi
• Blair ChannelSubordinate current station18 mi
• Wallace ChannelSubordinate current station19 mi
• Sheep Island SlueSubordinate current station22 mi

• Tide times at Hatteras Inlet 0.9 mi
• Tide times at USCG Station Hatteras 2.7 mi
• Tide times at Cape Hatteras Fishing Pier 6.7 mi
• Forecast for Hatteras, NC
• Open the live map with tidal currents
• All tidal current stations in North Carolina

Tidal current predictions from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), station ACT6286, bin 1: original at NOAA. Marine alerts from the National Weather Service.