Weather Tidbits: Tides

This Weather Tidbits will discuss about tides. The tidal cycles are governed by the gravitational attraction between the Earth, the Moon, and even the Sun.  The Moon and the Earth exert a gravitation force onto one another. As the Earth rotates on it’s axis we will periodically face the Moon as the Moon revolves around the Earth as well. When a spot on Earth faces the Moon, a slightly greater gravitational force is exerted onto that given spot. This causes ocean waters to spread out and inundate further inland. This is the high tide. The same happens when facing in the opposite direction of the moon due to a gravitational bulge. When facing 90 degrees away from the moon, there is liess gravity being exerted on that given spot on earth. This is the low tide.

In regards to the sun and the phases of the moon, the full and new moon phases will result in overall higher water levels during the tidal cycle because of a greater gravitational force created by the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon being in alignment. When the angle between the three is 90 degrees like during the first and third quarter Moon phases, water levels are overall lower during the tidal cycle.