Flood Tide

Flood tide is the part of the tidal cycle when the water level rises from low water toward high water and, in a tidal stream, the incoming landward flow that fills an estuary or inlet. It runs from low water to the next high water, about 6 hours 12 minutes in a semidiurnal regime governed by M2 at 12.42 hours. The flood stream sets the window for entering shallow harbors as depth increases over the bar. Slack water at the top of the flood marks the turn before the ebb, the reference moment for tidal-stream vectors.