Pennsylvania Tide Charts

Q: Where do the Pennsylvania tide predictions come from?

Every value comes from NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Pennsylvania has 2 harmonic prediction stations in this directory, and each page requests the predictions from api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov in your browser when it loads, so the numbers are NOAA's own rather than a copy we maintain.

Q: Which Pennsylvania station has the biggest tides?

Among the stations listed here, Philadelphia has the largest published mean range at 6.24 feet, while Marcus Hook has the smallest at 5.62 feet. Mean range is NOAA's long-term average difference between mean high water and mean low water; spring tides swing wider than it and neap tides narrower.

Q: Why is high tide at different times along the Pennsylvania coast?

The tide is a long wave moving along the coast and into every bay and river, and it takes real time to travel. Two towns on the same shoreline can see high water an hour or more apart, and the delay grows up estuaries and behind inlets. That is why this page links a separate chart per NOAA station instead of pretending one table covers the whole state.

Q: Can I use these pages for boating in Pennsylvania?

No. These are planning pages for beach walks, fishing and tidepooling. Mariners should use official NOAA charts and products at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov. Whether any specific flat, bar or crossing is safe on foot is a local conditions question for the authority that manages that shoreline, not something a tide table can answer.

Seven day tide tables and today's tide curve for 2 NOAA harmonic prediction stations on the Pennsylvania coast, live from NOAA CO-OPS.

2 NOAA stations with a tide chart page in Pennsylvania

Station pages

Biggest mean range

6.24 ft

Source

NOAA CO-OPS

Pennsylvania tides at a glance

NOAA harmonic stations

tide chart pages

one per NOAA harmonic station

6.24 ft

largest mean range

Philadelphia (station 8545530)

5.62 ft

smallest mean range

Marcus Hook (station 8540433)

Mixed

tide types here

NOAA station classification

Pennsylvania has no ocean coast, but it has real tides: the Delaware River is tidal past Philadelphia up to the falls at Trenton, and NOAA runs harmonic prediction stations on the Philadelphia waterfront and at Marcus Hook. The tide here is a river tide, arriving hours after the ocean’s.

Pick your coast

Pennsylvania tide chart pages

Each page below reads NOAA’s harmonic predictions live for one station: today’s curve, a 7 day high/low table with sun and moon times, and the week’s best low tide windows. Mean range and tide type come from NOAA’s published station datums, and they are worth a glance before you pick: two towns an hour apart can live on very different tides.

Tide chart	NOAA station	Mean range	Tide type
Philadelphia	PHILADELPHIA (PIER 11 NORTH), DEL. RIVER (8545530)	6.24 ft	Mixed
Marcus Hook	Marcus Hook (8540433)	5.62 ft	Mixed

Mean range is NOAA’s published difference between mean high water and mean low water at each station, in feet.

Local knowledge

How tides behave on the Pennsylvania coast

Anglers on the tidal Delaware fish the stages the way coastal anglers do, and rowers and paddlers on the river plan around a current that reverses four times a day right through the city.

The spread inside the state is real: NOAA’s mean range runs from 5.62 feet at Marcus Hook to 6.24 feet at Philadelphia. Use the station nearest the shoreline you actually plan to stand on, and expect timing to drift further up rivers, estuaries and back bays.

Tide pool at low water crowded with purple and orange sea stars and green anemones — A tide pool exposed at low water. The daytime lows and minus tides flagged on each Pennsylvania station page are the windows when shoreline like this is reachable. “Tide pools in santa cruz” by Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0

A white tide staff marked in feet standing in harbor water, with a Tide Level sign and NOAA ships docked behind it — A tide staff and NOAA ships in Juneau, Alaska. Every prediction on the Pennsylvania pages traces back to water level measurements like these, analyzed by NOAA CO-OPS into harmonic constants. “NOAA Tide Level Juneau 28” by Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0

A person digging for clams with a long-handled tool on a wet sand flat exposed at low tide — Clam digging on a flat exposed at low water. Where Pennsylvania allows shellfishing, the tide table is the first tool; the state’s harvest rules and closures are the second. “Clam digging” by Martyne Reesman, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, CC BY-SA 2.0

A full moon rising over calm water beyond a stone breakwater with people watching from it — Full and new moons bring the biggest tides of the month to the Pennsylvania coast: spring tides, when the highs run highest and the minus tides show up. “Full Moon rising over Brisbane River-1” by Sheba_Also 43,000 photos, CC BY-SA 2.0

Common questions

Pennsylvania tides FAQ

Where do the Pennsylvania tide predictions come from?

Which Pennsylvania station has the biggest tides?

Why is high tide at different times along the Pennsylvania coast?

Can I use these pages for boating in Pennsylvania?

Beyond Pennsylvania

More coast planning

Pennsylvania beach conditionsLive NWS rip current and surf zone forecasts for this coast, reproduced as issued.Pennsylvania tick forecastDune grass and coastal trails are tick habitat. Worth a check before the walk in.Pennsylvania mosquito forecastMarsh coast at dusk is prime biting time. See where activity stands today.

Tide charts in other states

Station facts are from NOAA CO-OPS (tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov), US government work in the public domain, attributed as NOS requests. Tide values are read live on each station page and reproduced as published. These pages are for beach, fishing and tidepool planning, not navigation. National hub: US tide charts →
Hero image: “Brewster Flats Tidal Flats on Cape Cod Bay East Brewster Massachusetts” by EgorovaSvetlana, CC BY-SA 4.0