Would an especially high low tide ever be higher than a very low high tide, at the same spot?

Question

I mean regular tidal levels, not resulting from a storm surge, tsunami or an unusual tidal surge in a shallow bay. I've noticed that some low tides are much lower than others, some high tides much higher than others. Just wondering if the two sets of highs and lows are likely to intersect.

Answer 1

I don't think so, and here's why--those days that have the highest low tides are also the ones that have the lowest high tides (they are the days with smallest variation), so if the "low" was higher than the "high," for that day, it would of course be the high, and not the low. On days with larger variation the highs will always be higher than that.  However, there can be a small enough variation between the two that the tide essentially disappears (that's when the highs and lows "intersect" as you call it). You can check this out by looking at graphs of high and low tides--for example, I looked at this one http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_me...

Answer 2

By definition if a "high low tide" becomes higher than a "low high tide" it becomes the new "high tide low", so it sometimes happens, but is renamed if it ever does, so intersection does happen , but it causes this to be renamed so it is not a permanent state, of affairs...just momentary.

The best places to watch the tides are the bay of Fundy in Canada, and the river Teste in England, ( at Southhampton ), where the difference in tidal highs and lows is clear, by a distance of about thirty feet and twenty feet respectively, and both have a tidal race, that causes the tide to go out , and in,  at a rate that can NOT be outrun by a man on foot,( it is like watching a bath empty itself ), in the bay of Fundy the tide comes in over flat lands, and can actually be seen covering this flatland at this rate, it also traps many tourists, often fatally, as they never seem to think that this bay can be covered completely in so short a space of time, it is several miles square, and is covered, as if a bedsheet is thrown over a bed, a hover craft is the choice of rescue vessel, for the life services/police, in this area, if you ever visit, I recommend that you heed this warning, it may be some sight to see, but you do not want to join the statistics for those who do not listen to the warnings !.....if you really have to know, how fast this tide comes in, I suggest that you get a washing up bowl, and fill it with water, then hold it over your kitchen floor and while moving your arms, tip it all out , throwing it across the floor, that is how fast it comes in !