Seasonal characterization of currents in northern California´s Humboldt Bay

Currents at the entrance of Humboldt Bay are highly variable owing to the migration of shoals produced from shifting sand bars and seasonal longshore currents. Tidal current studies of Humboldt Bay were conducted by NOAA´s National Ocean Service Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services during the winter of 2002/2003 and during the summer of 2004 using acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) arrays. Tidal flow and strength from two stations occupied in 2002 and two stations occupied in 2004 are evaluated. Maximum observed current outside the jetties near the harbor entrance was northerly during the winter and reversed during the summer, as expected, owing to the movement of seasonal longshore currents. Currents within the Entrance Channel differed seasonally from the expected along channel flow in strength and direction.