Tides & Towns
Florida Panhandle · FL

Pensacola

The City of Five Flags and the cradle of naval aviation.

Population
54,312 (2020 census)
First settled
1559, by Tristán de Luna
Nickname
City of Five Flags
Tides
One high, one low a day

Then

  1. 1559

    Tristán de Luna lands on August 15 with about 1,500 people on 11 ships from Veracruz. A hurricane on September 19 wrecks the colony, and it is abandoned in 1561.

  2. 1698

    The Spanish return and build a fortified town near Fort Barrancas. Over the centuries Spain, France, Britain, the United States and the Confederacy will all fly their flags here.

  3. 1861–1862

    Union troops hold Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island through the Civil War's opening battles. After New Orleans falls in 1862, the Confederates abandon the city.

  4. 1914

    The Navy commissions Naval Air Station Pensacola, its first and still its largest. Generations of naval aviators, including John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, train here.

  5. 2004

    Hurricane Ivan strikes on September 16, destroying more than 10,000 homes and knocking 58 spans off the I-10 bridge over Escambia Bay.

Now

Naval Air Station Pensacola is home to the Blue Angels and the free National Naval Aviation Museum. The Pensacola Lighthouse stands on the base.

Downtown's Palafox Place and Plaza Ferdinand VII mark the old city. More than 2.5 million visitors a year come for the white beaches, deep-sea fishing and diving, including the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, sunk offshore as an artificial reef.

On the water

From NOAA's predictions for Pensacola, FL over the next 343 days. Heights are in feet above mean lower low water (MLLW).

Pattern
Usually one high and one low a day
Typical daily range
1.2 ft
Biggest swing
2.4 ft on Dec 24
Smallest swing
0.1 ft on Mar 8
Highest high
1.9 ft, Oct 30 at 2:09 AM
Lowest low
−1.0 ft, Jan 21 at 8:47 AM

15 tide stations around Pensacola

Show all 15 stations

Sources