Galveston Channel, west end tidal current predictions

Now

Ebb 0.2 ktToward ESE (112°)

Next slack

5:04 PMCDT

Next max flood

1.3 kt9:42 PM

Next max ebb

1.3 kt12:19 PM

Knots along the channel: above the line the flood, running in toward WNW (289°); below it the ebb, running out toward ESE (112°). Times are Central Daylight Time. Today: slack 5:23 AM, ebb 1.3 kt 12:19 PM, slack 5:04 PM, flood 1.3 kt 9:42 PM.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued October 1 at 5:44AM CDT until October 1 at 10:00AM CDT by NWS Houston/Galveston TXUntil 10:00 AM
  Full text

  * WHAT...Southeast winds 15 to 25 knots and choppy bay waters. * WHERE...Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay. * WHEN...Until 10 AM CDT this morning. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.

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

• Measured, along the channel
• Predicted

A NOAA PORTS current meter, bin 30. 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.

• Galveston Channel, East EndCurrent meter (NOAA PORTS)2.5 mi
• Bolivar RoadsSubordinate current station3.3 mi
• Galveston Causeway RR. bridgeHarmonic current station4.0 mi
• Houston Channel, W of Port BolivarSubordinate current station4.1 mi
• Galveston Bay Entrance Channel, LB 11Current meter (NOAA PORTS)5.3 mi
• Galveston Bay Entrance (between jetties)Subordinate current station7.0 mi
• Houston Ship Channel (Red Fish Bar)Subordinate current station14 mi

• Tide times at Galveston Pier 21 1.6 mi
• Tide times at Galveston Pleasure Pier 2.5 mi
• Tide times at Port Bolivar 4.6 mi
• Forecast for Galveston, TX
• Open the live map with tidal currents
• All tidal current stations in Texas

Tidal current predictions and real-time current measurements (PORTS) from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), station g09010, bin 30: original at NOAA. Marine alerts from the National Weather Service.