Beginning this weekend we'll all see a shift to more extreme tides and it is all tied to two astronomical events. Next week, the moon will both be close and also reach the New Moon phase.

We all know that the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun cause our oceans to rise and fall daily with the spinning of the Earth. Gravity is a force, a pull by one large object on another. The closer the object, the more pull. Since the Moon has an elliptical orbit around the Earth, its pull on the earth varies as it tends to its orbit. Next week, the moon will be at its closest, in perigee, on Monday, May 26. That is 221,524 miles away. That is pretty close.

Add that to the Moon being in the New Moon phase on Tuesday and we've got the gravitational pull of both the Moon and the Sun together from essentially the same part of space. Again gravity causes our tides and there will be more than usual gravity at the beginning of next week. Not to worry, this happened a month ago and it happens a couple times a year.

If you are a boater, a shellfisherman, you'll be paying close attention. The extreme tides will unveil areas of the bottom we usually don't see. The shoreline will recede. But in the same day it will also get higher. On Monday and Tuesday you can expect to see the highest tide around noon and midnight. The lowest tides will coincide with the beginning and the end of the day.