Wind Turbines, Laguna Madre, Flooded Flats

These are the wind turbines on the mainland during King Tide taken from about mile 18 beyond the 4×4 only sign on Padre Island National Seashore. There’s a bit of a physical mirage going on here where the distance is cast in a heat mirage, but that doesn’t change the fact that much of the water in this shot should be dry sand flats.  The wind turbines, oak motts (tree clumps) and house are all on the mainland side of the mile-wide Laguna Madre (Mother Lagoon) that parallels the mile-wide Padre Island for 100 miles along the south Texas Coast. High tide is about 25 to 50 percent higher higher than normal during the King Tide. The foreground should be dry sand flats, though more often with high tides they are underwater.