KINGSTON, R.I. – April 9, 2025 – Get your cameras ready!

Extreme high tides will return to Rhode Island coastlines on Saturday, April 26, at 7:33 p.m.

The University of Rhode Island is asking Rhode Islanders to join the MyCoast: Rhode Island king tide monitoring effort to help document the effect that extreme tide events have on state beaches, coastal waterways, private property, and public infrastructure. This high-tide flooding — also called nuisance or sunny-day flooding — causes short-term public inconveniences such as flooded streets and closed roads. Over longer periods, such chronic flooding can also compromise infrastructure.

MyCoast RI volunteers are invited to upload photos or short videos showing where these king tides are flooding streets, parking lots, yards, sidewalks, and shoreline access areas.

The MyCoast app now also allows volunteers to share video clips as part of their reports. Video size is limited to 20 MB, so volunteers are advised to keep clips short: a few seconds of waves, a quick pan of a flooded area.

Since URI’s Coastal Resources Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant introduced this shoreline monitoring effort to local communities a decade ago, more than 1,500 people have uploaded pictures. Last year, volunteers submitted more than 600 photos of king tides throughout Rhode Island for the effort, more than double 2023’s king tide photo count. Warwick, Portsmouth, and Bristol were the top three communities to submit MyCoast photos.

This year, Sea Grant staff are hoping to get more images from coast watchers in South County.

“So many URI students live in South Kingstown and Narragansett,” says Monica Allard Cox, communications director, Rhode Island Sea Grant. “It would be great if they captured high tide photos on April 26 before they leave for the summer!”

Snaps for science

“King tides are a good visual estimation of what our coast will look like with sea level rise in the future,” says Casey Tremper, a coastal resilience specialist with Sea Grant.

The MyCoast team uses the photos to better understand current and future issues, analyze coastal vulnerability and assess needed planning throughout the state’s coastal neighborhoods. Save The Bay and the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council also utilize information and data obtained through the program and URI researchers use the pictures to validate their coastal models.

The term ‘king tide’ is a non-scientific term used to describe the highest seasonal tides that occur each year. These tides occur naturally and are typically caused when a spring tide takes place when the moon is closest to Earth during the 28-day elliptical orbit, known as a perigee. Spring tides happen twice every month throughout the year, based on the lunar calendar, occurring when the sun, moon, and Earth align during a new and full moon, increasing tide ranges.

The effect of individual king tides may vary considerably. In some cases, they may barely be noticed. In other cases, a king tide may cause coastal erosion, flooding of low-lying areas, and disruption to normal daily routines. This is particularly true when a king tide coincides with significant precipitation and water drainage and runoff is impeded. MyCoast RI issues king tide notifications to participants when water levels are predicted to reach 0.8 feet above the average high tide during daylight hours.

Volunteers are needed for tide tracking, April through December each year. Once registered at MyCoast, photographers can submit photos during any king tide taking place during the year. Coast watchers are cautioned to be careful when capturing footage; avoid driving into flood waters or walking out on slippery rocks.

To sign up to track this year’s king tides, visit mycoast.org/ri and click the ‘register’ button. For questions, contact Casey Tremper at casey_tremper@uri.edu.