How far out can you expect tide charts to be accurate? I mean, can you reasonably expect to look 2, 3 or 4 months ahead and expect what a tide chart says today to be accurate? Just wondering.
The atstronomical prediction is pretty accurate, so the times are very close. The daily weather variation makes it a bit more challenging. One trip this past week had a foot more water than expected due to rains and an onshore wind.
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i believe they’re about as accurate as predicting sunrise and sunset on an annual basis- you could plan a boat trip for the 4th of July, 2111 at high tide.
as mentioned, wind is the most significant factor that causes tides to deviate from this cycle in high salinity areas. lower salinity areas (upper river spots like bushy park, jessen landing, etc) probably deviate significantly based on rainfall too.
from experience, only experience will tell you what a certain rainfall or wind direction and intensity will do to the tidal height at a given location. another great reason to keep a fishing diary in a tidelog or otherwise. i still don’t understand why a northeast wind makes tides higher in the harbor, but it does.