Clifton Channel tidal current predictions

Now

Ebb 1.2 ktToward WNW (301°)

Next slack

11:21 PMPDT

Next max flood

0.6 ktSat 1:05 AM

Next max ebb

1.2 ktSat 7:06 AM

Knots along the channel: above the line the flood, running in toward ESE (118°); below it the ebb, running out toward WNW (301°). Times are Pacific Daylight Time. Today: flood 0.6 kt 12:36 AM, slack 2:07 AM, ebb 1.2 kt 6:29 AM, slack 10:57 AM, flood 0.7 kt 12:54 PM, slack 2:40 PM, ebb 1.2 kt 6:54 PM, slack 11:21 PM.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 25 at 5:48PM PDT until September 27 at 5:00AM PDT by NWS Portland ORUntil Sun 5:00 AM
  Full text

  * WHAT...Rough bar conditions expected. For the first Small Craft Advisory, seas 8 to 10 ft at 9 seconds and northwest winds 10 to 15 kt expected. For the second Small Craft Advisory, seas 5 to 7 ft at 8 seconds and north winds 10 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt expected. * WHERE...In the Main Channel of the Columbia River Bar. * WHEN...Small Craft Advisory, until 11 PM PDT this evening. Small Craft Advisory, from 5 PM Saturday to 5 AM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft, especially when operating near to, or attempting to cross, the Columbia River Bar. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Ebb current of 5.5 kt at 517 PM Saturday. Seas 5 ft.

  A Small Craft Advisory means that wave conditions are expected to be hazardous to small craft in the vicinity of the Columbia River Bar. Mariners are advised to obtain the latest bar conditions from the United States Coast Guard before attempting to cross the bar.

• Small Craft Advisory Small Craft Advisory issued September 25 at 5:48PM PDT until September 25 at 11:00PM PDT by NWS Portland ORUntil 11:00 PM
  Full text

  * WHAT...Rough bar conditions expected. For the first Small Craft Advisory, seas 8 to 10 ft at 9 seconds and northwest winds 10 to 15 kt expected. For the second Small Craft Advisory, seas 5 to 7 ft at 8 seconds and north winds 10 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt expected. * WHERE...In the Main Channel of the Columbia River Bar. * WHEN...Small Craft Advisory, until 11 PM PDT this evening. Small Craft Advisory, from 5 PM Saturday to 5 AM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft, especially when operating near to, or attempting to cross, the Columbia River Bar. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Ebb current of 5.5 kt at 517 PM Saturday. Seas 5 ft.

  A Small Craft Advisory means that wave conditions are expected to be hazardous to small craft in the vicinity of the Columbia River Bar. Mariners are advised to obtain the latest bar conditions from the United States Coast Guard before attempting to cross the bar.

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.

• Quinn Island, Prairie ChannelSubordinate current station2.3 mi
• Hunting Island, south ofSubordinate current station3.0 mi
• Woody Island Channel (off Seal Island)Subordinate current station7.8 mi
• Cathlamet Channel, SE of Nassa PointSubordinate current station8.4 mi
• Woody Island ChannelSubordinate current station10 mi
• Tongue Point, northwest ofSubordinate current station14 mi
• Point Ellice, east ofSubordinate current station18 mi
• Youngs Bay BridgeSubordinate current station19 mi

• Tide times at Skamokawa 3.7 mi
• Tide times at Wauna 4.9 mi
• Tide times at Knappa, Knappa Slough 6.2 mi
• Forecast for Cathlamet, WA
• Open the live map with tidal currents
• All tidal current stations in Washington

Tidal current predictions from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), station PCT1206, bin 1: original at NOAA. Marine alerts from the National Weather Service.