Why is there only one high and low tide a day in the Gulf of Mexico?
954197
Actually, there's two, but they're so small there appears to be only one high and low tide per day.
281064
Tide-generating forces (TGF) are a result of the gravitational attraction between the earth, the sun, and the moon and the centrifugal force due to the relative motions of the moon around the earth, and the earth around the sun.  While these forces exactly balance on average, the local mismatch at the earth's surface creates a horizontal force directed towards the surface points closest and farthest from the moon (the "lunar" TGF) and the sun (the "solar" TGF).  \nThe crust of the earth is slightly elastic, so that it is deformed by the TGFs, creating lunar and solar tidal budges (high land) at the points closest and furthest from the moon and sun respectively. To an observer fixed on the earth's surface, these tidal budges move from east to west around the earth as it rotates each day, thus causing two luner and two solar high earth tides about each day. The period of the solar tide is exactly 12.00 hours, while the period of the lunar tide is slightly longer, 12.42 hours, due to the moon's revolution around the earth every 27 days. These tides are called the "semidiurnal" tides since they have periods of roughly 1/2 day.   The inclination of the earth's spin axis to the plane of the moon's revolution about the earth and the earth's revolution about the sun creates in addition weaker "diurnal" tides with periods of roughly 1 day. The amplitude of the semidiurnal lunar high earth tide is about 1 m at the equator, about twice that of the solar tide.  We do not feel these earth tides due to their very large horizontal scales (many 1000's km). \n\nThe fluid ocean also experiences the TGFs. Unlike the simple tidal budges created in the earth's crust, ocean tides have complex spatial patterns due to the complicated shapes and topographies of the different ocean basins. In general, however, ocean tides at any spot consist of a mixture of semidiurnal and diurnal tides.  The world's largest semidiurnal tides exist in the Bay of Fundy (maximum high tide ~12-15 m), where the Bay of Fundy/Gulf of Maine acts as a coupled hydrodynamic system which is forced near its own resonant frequency by the semidiurnal tide in the western North Atlantic Ocean.  Similar very high tides are found in other coastal areas (e.g., the Amazon and the Patagonia shelves) where the regional topography creates a near-resonant response to the adjacent deep ocean tide.
193750
This is due to the seawater having a greater heat capacity than the land, thus they heat and cool off at different rates, causing pressure differentials in the air above them. See the source for details.
550865
Houston is right on the Gulf of Mexico. It is not considered as arr id.Humidity is higher than dessert.
1014431
Tides are more complex than people think.   Tides are like the "modes" of a standing wave which is driven by two main forcing mechanisms - the moon's relative orbit (twelve and a bit hours) and the earth's spin relative to the sun (twenty four hours).  Those are the "fundamental" frequencies but there are  harmonics on top of those.  The lunar tides are referred to as M0, M1, etc.   M0 is the biggie that we're all aware of.   M1 and so on take a bit more effort to detect but they're all there if you look hard enough.   Then you take all that mathematical soup and force it to interact with uneven bathymetry (sea bed shape) and it all gets very weird.   But utterly predictable.
228066
just a lesser form of a lunar tide, as per wikipedia....\n\n\nThe tide is the regular rising and falling of the ocean's surface caused by changes in gravitational forces external to the Earth. The main changing gravitational field is due to the Moon while a lesser field is caused by the Sun.\n\nSince tides generate currents of conducting fluids within the Earth's magnetic field, they affect in return the magnetic field itself.\n\nThe loss of rotational energy of the earth, due to friction within the tides, and the gravitational effects caused by tidal deformations of the earth's body, are responsible for the slowdown of the earth's rotation and the increase of the distance to the moon, see Tidal force.
500032
The Pull of both the Moon & the Sun, Yes the sun too has a pull & depending on where both are depends on how strong the pull is hence the different types of tide but the wave itself probably has more to do with the weather, ie strong winds etc.
1143060
WTF? The Gulf of Mexico is a gulf...of Mexico...
1140754
If you are refering to those real small islands at the north end, they are off limits because they go under water at high tide.  There is nothing on them for you to see because of this.
970700
It's not exact, or we wouldn't see phases of the moon. See, the moon is a significant influence on times of ebb and flood tides, and if it was perfectly synchronized with our rotation, then it would be the same phase every day.\n\nFurthermore, it changes every day at each location. For the most part, you can count on a 5 or 6 hour flood stage from low to high tide, followed by a 5 or 6 hour ebb stage back to low tide.\n\nOther forces effect tides (such as the sun's gravity), but as far as time of day for high and low tides, nothing compares to the moon's gravitational tug.
44975
The tides are caused because on one side of the earth, the gravitational pull of the moon (and other bodies) pulls the water away from the earth, and makes a big lump we call a high tide. On the other side of the earth, the earth gets pulled away from the water, leaving another big lump. That is why in most places we see 2 tides a day (although in some places there are no tides, or 1 tide a day, or more than 2 a day). \n\nThere are tides in the atmosphere too, and in the ground, as you might expect. It is not just in the water, but we can see the water tides easiest in the oceans and some big lakes.
34389
I get what you're asking. The answer is that the tidal cycle from high water to low water is a little longer than twelve hours long. Because of the earth's tilted axis (that's what causes summer and winter) the tidal cycle is not a simple sine curve and the two daily high tides are not equal in height. This cycle repeats on a 14 day period. Anyway, since the Atlantic coast is only 4 hrs different that the Pacific Coast, there are 4 short periods during each 24 hour day when the tides on the Atlantic coast will be moving the opposite direction of the tides on the Pacific Coast. \n\nTo see how this works, go look at the graph on this page title "Mixed, semi-diurnal tide" and look at any given 4 hour period. You'll see the result. \nhttp://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/03-04/marine/res_resourcebkd.htm
220796
The highest tides occur during spring tides, when the earth, sun and the moon are aligned, or in syzygy (either conjunction or opposition). There is a special type of high tide called a perigean high tide when the moon is closest to the earth (at its perigee) which is extra high. Of course storm surges can make this high tide even higher. \n\nThese are also the conditions for the lowest low tides, because when a given location is oriented at right angles to the alignment, its water is being pulled away to make a very high tide someplace else, making its low tides extra low.\n\nWhen the moon and the sun are at right angles, with the earth at the fulcrum, the difference between high tides and  low tides is reduced, because the two tidal forces of the sun and the moon are not acting together.\n\nAt any given place on the coast, there can be different effects than this, because of the shape of the coast and the bottom. This is why there are places on the earth with no tides (nodal points), one high tide per day, 2 (the norm), 3 high tides per day, 4 or even more.
1134387
While the high tide is coming in the waves will be bigger with the "tidal push".  The morning usually has better shape unless you have afternoon offshore winds.  Winds that blow onshore tend to flatten the waves and ruin their shape.
844825
Contrary to the above posters answere, there ARE buoys (correct spelling BTW) "in the middle of the ocean". They are few and far between but yes there are.\nCheck NOAA's website for locations\n\nhttp://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/rmd.shtml
147245
Actually only about 2/3 of the tides are from the moon's gravity, and about 1/3 are from the sun's gravity. \n\nThe reason there are about 2 high tides per day, is that the gravity field produced by the sun and the moon is not constant. The farther away from the moon you are, the less the gravity is. So water close to the moon gets pulled away from the earth (the force on the earth is less since the earth is farther away) and it gets pulled up in a pile we call a high tide. On the other side of the earth, the earth is pulled away from the water (since the earth is closer to the moon than the water on that side of the earth), leaving a pile of water on the far side of the earth, which is the other high tide. \n\nIn between these two piles of water, there are places where the water is not getting piled up. We say those places are experiencing a low tide. \n\nIt gets much more complicated than this of course. There are tides in the ground and in the atmosphere, in lakes and in rivers etc. There are places where there is one high tide a day or 3 or more or even no high tides per day (because of the response of the local area to the tidal forcing; governed by the bottom topography, coastline shape, etc). \n\nThere are high tides that are extra high because the sun and the moon line up (spring tides) and high tides that are not so high because the sun and the moon are at right angles, not working together (neap tides). There are ultra high tides when the moon is especially close (proxigean spring tides). There are effects of the other planets like Jupiter   and Mars in the tides. And so on.
189699
High tide/low tide?\nSpring Tide?\nBefore they raise the Flood barrier?\nAt the turn of the tide at low it is about 10 feet, I am told.