King Tide Historical Events
These are the top 10 historical raw mean sea level peaks dating back to 1903 in the Waitemata harbour, Auckland
(Historical data source : NIWA / Auckland City Council / LINZ)
Height
2.38 m
2.27 m
2.15 m
2.14 m
2.13 m
2.13 m
2.12 m
2.11 m
2.11 m
2.09 m
Date
23rd Jan 2011
26th Mar 1936
14th Jul 1995
4th Feb 1904
7th Mar 1954
14th Jul 1956
5th Jan 2018
14th Feb 1918
20th Jun 1947
11th Jul 1926
1936 storm
1936 Saw 2 major ex-tropical cyclones pound the shores around the Hauraki Gulf. The first storm was on hit the Hauraki Gulf on the morning 2nd February 1936, causing extensive damage. A 2nd storm arrived 26th March 1936 which conincided with a King Tide and the highest recorded sea level of the 20th century.
Photo:Milford beach, 26th March 1936
(archive takapuna lib T 0356)
1938 Hauraki Plains Floods
Noted as the the worst flood in the history of the Hauraki Plains with the sea level peak measured at 3.0m on the Thames vcoast . Heavy rain and northerly winds combined on 4 May 1938 coinciding with a king tide around 10pm breaking the stop-banks at Pipiroa and Hopai. In Thames, the water inundated the Grahamstown end of town, the Park Hotel had four feet of water and debris, with a car parked outside was submerged to the roof.
Photo:The Pipiroa Store,5th May 1938
(Sir George Grey Special Collections, Ak Libraries)
2011 Deep low
On 23 January 2011, Coastal sea inundation affected several parts of Auckland including Queen Street, Tamaki Drive, the northwest motorway, Herald Island, Maraetai and Miranda. The Port of Auckland measured their highest ever mean sea level of 2.38m. A low-pressure system coincided with a very high king tide which caused considerable damage.
Photo: SH16 Auckland NW motorway city-bound buslane, Sun 23 Jan 2011.
(Photo courtesy of Peter Mitchell)
2018 Subtropical storm
On 5 January 2018, a subtropical storm coincided with a king tide causing extensive damage to low lying areas and roads around the Firth of Thames with storm tide inundation around Auckland. Barometric pressure dropped to 987 hPa, with the recorded the sea level at Thames of 2.8 m, which is the 2nd highest ever level recorded behind the 1938 storm event of 3.0 m.
Photo: Thames Coast rd Highway 25,
Sun 5 Jan 2018.
(Photo courtesy of Jason Thomsen)
