The king tides, a popular name for unusually high tides, primarily used in the southern hemisphere have returned and will recur for the next 30 days or so. Photographer David Rosen recorded the 12.8 tide looking north toward downtown Seattle from the Spokane Street fishing pier and another view looking east along the Alki Beach Promenade.

King tides are caused by the sun and moon’s gravitational pull as they fall in alignment with the earth.

A winter king tide is most commonly after dark and draws less attention. With longer days in summer, a king tide can bring many people out to witness it.

Last January the king tide reached over 13 feet and will not be as high again until next December 15.

The corresponding low tide was recorded at -3.1 on Friday, December 23, 2011 and Saturday, December 24, 2011 and Monday, December 26, 2011 at -2.8

You can look at the National Oceanagraphic and Atmospheric Adminstration tide predictions here http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=259

The Washington State Department of Ecology interactive map on this year's king tide is here
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/ipa_hightide_map.htm

You can see the tides in these areas on these dates:

Puget Sound: Dec. 27-29 and Jan. 13-17
Strait of Juan de Fuca: Dec. 21-25 and Jan. 18-22
Washington’s outer coast: Dec. 21-26 and Jan. 19-24