This discussion will look at observed maximum high-water levels recorded at Lowestoft Tide Gauge for the dates of 1st, 15th and 30th January for 2015 – 2026. Examination of high-water levels for the month of January, with the year 2015, randomly chosen as a base point, began when a very large storm surge occurred on…

What the sea would do, left to its own devices, was predictable, it would rise, then fall. What the wind would do, no man could tell. Men of Dunwich. Rowland Parker. Somewhat belatedly, is it is now July, this discussion will look at annual Maximum Observed Tide levels at Lowestoft Tide Gauge for three dates…

A few brief comments on High Sea levels that have been recorded on the East Anglian and Essex Coast, with Flood Alerts issued for a number of days in a row for Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. The chart below from the British Oceanography Data Centre shows the Observed High Water levels comprised of tide heights…

This discussion will continue looking at the concept of Total Water Level by taking an annual look at observed high water levels for the 1st, 15th and 30th January for the years, 2015-2024. As the data from January 2024 coincided with a period of intense stormy weather, this discussion will look at features of sea…

This discussion will take an initial look at the extremely active winter storm season of 2023/2024. An enduring presence during the storms, Total Water Level (TWL) will be considered, alongside erosion common to both Sand and Shingle beaches in East Anglia. Given the complex nature of the winter storms it might be simplistic to just…

A Storm Surge measuring just under 1 metre hit the East Anglian coast on the evening of 14th/15th January 2024 with the surge persisting for around 24 hours. The Surge, which coincided with Spring Tides resulted in extremely High-Water levels causing flooding in places, with the Thames Barrier closing for the 211th time, since its…

Few areas are more susceptible to large dangerous storm surges than the southern part of the North Sea. Storm surges, 1967–1982. N. S. Heaps. Geophysical Journal International, Volume 74, Issue 1, July 1983, Pages 331–376. This discussion will begin a two-part consideration to look at storm surges. The first part will discuss the effects on…

Storm Ciaran hit the Southern half of England on the evening of Wednesday 1st November and further intensified to a severe storm on Thursday 2nd November. One distinct feature of Storm Ciaran was that it seemed to be a Wind Wave Storm. A characteristic of a storm of this nature is the Significant Wave Height…

This discussion will continue previous considerations looking at Tide data from Lowestoft for the months of January and July, from 2015 to the present day. The two months were selected to give a contrasting snapshot of tidal values in a winter and a summer month in the year. A chart is updated twice a year…

This discussion will combine analysis of annual January tide data from 2015 to the current year, with further consideration of the 1953 storm event, to consider the usefulness of a Skew Surge. The total difference between Maximum Predicted Astronomical Tide and Maximum Observed High Water. To begin with a look at annual observed Tidal High…