TEXAS COAST AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

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Read the following report for much more information about the entire coast.

Coastal Law and the Geology of a Changing Shoreline, March 2006, updated to include section on poor beach and dune management practices

If you want much more information about Packery Channel than is presented on this page go to:
Packery Channel Information

A Packery Channel and Beach Closing Blog.

http://packery.blogspot.com/

Packery.com has had a make-over.

http://packery.com/content/

The Dredge Report, a site about Packery Channel.

http://www.timeandspace.com/dredge.html

2006.

Surf Across the Mouth of Packery 12/28/2006

Packery Channel 12/22/2006

Today the wind was fairly light and the surf was moderate, only breaking regularly on the second bar. The shoal within the entrance to Packery Channel has built up so that these light waves were regularly breaking on the bar, as can be seen by the white patch just inside of the entrance. The second photo shows the waves peaking, but not breaking on the bar.

Packery Channel 12/22/2006

This photo shows some foam on the surface where waves were breaking within the entrance. If you look closely, you can see the waves peaking up slightly within the entrance. They go all the way across the entrance at the mouth and then continue inward along the north (right) side of the channel where the bar is the shallowest.

Surf Across the Mouth of Packery 12/28/2006

Surf Across the Mouth of Packery 12/28/2006

Packery Channel 12/22/2006

Photo by Tony Amos showing breaking surf in entrance.

Packery Channel 12/22/2006

Photo by Tony Amos showing breaking surf in entrance.

Packery Channel 11-17-2006

The following photos dated 11-17-2006 were taken on the second day after a 40 mph norther. Note that the channel is filled with sand waves with the slip faces indicating that they were migrating seaward on the enormously strong ebb tide due to the norther. There are numerous bars and ebb tidal shoals in and beyond the jetties. I am including some graphs showing tide, wind, and current data taken by the automatic system from the Blucher Institute TCOON network. You can plainly see the effect of the powerful north winds on the water level and the current in the following graphs.

Water Level, Wind Speed, Wind Direction

Water Level at Packery on 11/17/06 the day the photos were taken

The photos were taken at noon on the 17th. Note in the figure below that the extreme low tide was only one hour earlier at 1100.

Emergent Bar between Laguna Madre and CC Bay

This photo was taken at 1215 CST on 11/17/06. It is only one hour after the extreme low tide shown on the tide chart above. Note that this is the most exposed that I have EVER seen the bar across the N. end of Laguna Madre. Note the small channel at the near end of the bar, next to Mustang Island. That is about where the original Corpus Christi Pass entered Corpus Christi Bay. You can see it well in the historical navigation charts further down on this page.

Current Velocity in Packery Channel

A Month of Current Velocities

Note the multi day ebb current on the 17th and 18th of November. This is due to the strong north winds blowing the water out of Packery Channel. Strong winds have a greater effect on currents and water levels in many Texas bays than the astronomical tides.

Packery Channel 11-17-2006

Packery 11-17-2006

Packery 11-17-2006

Sand waves with slip faces indicating deposition by ebb tide from strong norther.

Packery 11-17-2006

Note the huge sand body just south of the south (lower) jetty.

Packery 11-17-2006

Packery 11-17-2006

"Packery Channel" in 1887

The manmade channel now called Packery Channel occupies an ephemeral hurricane overwash channel. The original pass at that general location was called Corpus Christi Pass and it ran from about the location of Bob Hall Pier straight north to Corpus Christi Bay. It did not in any way follow the present course of the manmade Packery Channel. Corpus Christi Pass closed naturally after the deep ship channel was dredged from Port Aransas to Corpus Christi in the 1920s. At the time that the two maps below were printed Corpus Christi pass was the main entrance to Corpus Christi Bay. There was no direct shipping channel from Port Aransas to Corpus Christi. Ships would enter the relatively deep Aransas Pass, located across from the light house and proceed north to an anchorage NE of Harbor Island at Quarantine Shore. There they offloaded to small shallow draft "lighters" which proceeded through Corpus Christi Bayou, a natural channel, and then Morris and Cummings Cut, a dredged channel, to enter Corpus Christi Bay. Creation of the deep and direct channel from Aransas Pass at Port Aransas to Corpus Christi in the 1920s captured virtually all of the tidal flow in and out of Corpus Christi Bay and the natural process of longshore drift carrying hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of sand across the entrance of Corpus Christi Pass closed it. Lake Padre is a remnant of the original Corpus Christi Pass. See the Aransas Pass airphoto page for corresponding 1887 maps of Aransas Pass, Corpus Chritis Bayou and Morris and Cummings Cut.

"Packery Channel" in 1887

Google Earth Photo showing CCPass and Packery

Google Earth Photo without the lines.

Packery Opening 10/6/2006

Packery Opening 10/6/2006

Packery Opening 10/6/2006

Packery Opening 10/6/2006

Packery 9/20/2006

Packery 8/31/2006 (from 4500 ft.)

Note the outer bar has swept offshore further than the finished end of the south jetty. This bar will pour sand into the channel mouth during normal high wind conditions from the southeast. There is a barge and crane placing the final rocks on the end of the jetty.

Packery 8/31/2006 (from 4500 ft.)

This is a close up of the crane placing the final rocks on the end of the south jetty.

Packery 7/17/06 from 5500 ft.

Packery 6/3/2006

Packery 6/3/2006

Packery 5/11/2006

The wind was from 020 at 20 knots gusting to 27 knots. Note that heavy surf is breaking well beyond the end of the south jetty which is at its finished length. It is also breaking very heavily within the channel entrance.

Packery 5/11/2006

Packery 2/8/06

The south jetty is finished and work is continuing on the north jetty.

Packery 2/8/06

Packery 2/8/06

Packery 1/11/2006

Observations on Saturday 1/7/2006

On Saturday, January 7, 2006 I flew over Packery Channel. The dredge was working nearly out as the end of the north jetty. This surprised me, since the jetty still needs to be extended 500 feet and sand will continue to enter the channel from the second bar which is at the present end of the north jetty and from the third bar which is well beyond the end of the north jetty. It seems wasteful to do that dredging before the jetty is at its finished length. Angel Escobar, the director of engineering for the City of Corpus Christi informed me that the Corps of Engineers directed that the channel be dredged at this time and that the jetty should be at its finished length by the end of March. At that time, they will re-dredge to remove any new infill. As you can see from the fourth picture below, there is a bar which is beyond even the finished length of the south jetty and it will pump sand into the channel during heavy surf conditions.

Packery 12/24/2005

Dredging has begun on the channel and spoil has been deposited in the bulge just south of the jetties and is being deposited in a second bulge just in front of the condominium farthest to the south. Surf is light and the wind was from the northwest at about 15 knots.

Packery 12/24/2005

Packery 12/24/2005

This shows the nearly completed south jetty. There is a walkway between the "high" rocks on each side of the center of the jetty. If they pour a concrete surface, that is where it will be placed.

Packery 11/27/2005

Note that under strong southeast wind conditions that the surf is breaking hundreds of feet offshore of the end of the south jetty which is at its completed length. The outer bar is at or beyond the end of the south jetty. Conditions such as these will pour huge quantities of sand into a bar inside of and outside of the entrance of the jetties. Even when the north jetty is completed, the jetties will be far too short to keep sand out of the entrance and far too short to provide navigational safety. The wind was from 160 degrees at 20 knots gusting to 27 knots.

Packery 11/4/2005

Packery 11/4/2005

Packery 10/31/05

Notice that the third bar is just barely breaking and is sweeping toward the end of the south jetty.

Packery 10/31/05

Notice the third bar is breaking at the same distance offshore as the end of the south jetty. The south jetty is at its finished length.

Packery 10/31/05

Third bar beaking near the end of the south jetty.

Packery 10/31/05

Note how close the third bar is breaking to the end of the south jetty. This bar will soon be pouring sand into the entrance whenever the SE winds are blowing hard.

Packery 10/9/05
The second bar is at the end of the north jetty. You can faintly see a third bar sweeping almost to the end of the south jetty.

Packery 10/9/5
Note that it looks like there is an outer bar on the right side of the red lines that is sweeping nearly to the end of the south jetty.

Packery 10/9/05
Note the sand waves filling the channel. it appears that they have their slipfaces to the right indicating that they were deposited by inflowing currents.

Packery 10/9/05
Sand waves filling channel. Note the slope failure of the revetment just to the right of the north (near) jetty.

Packery 8/31/05

Packery 8/31/05

The next three photos were taken on 8/2/2005
Note that the south jetty is being extended.
Extensive shoaling was noted inside of the jetties alongside of the north jetty and the shoals looked like they were covered with sand waves. The light was not sufficient to get a photo of those shoals. A bit further south we could barely see an outer bar beyond the prominent bar which impinges on the outer south jetty, but it was too dim in the existing light and water clarity to photograph.
8/2/2005

8/2/2005

8/2/2005

Packery 7/22/05

Hurricane Emily Opened Packery 7/22/05
Be careful, there is a breaking bar inside of the entrance.

Packery Jetties 7-22-05

Packery Channel 6/16/05 from 6500 ft.

Note that the outer bar which is about 800 ft offshore at Bob Hall Pier has already moved offshore and is sweeping around the south jetty of Packery Channel. This bar breaks heavily when the surf is up. There will be a huge amount of sand transported along this bar and dumped into the mouth of Packery Channel. It will likely produce a shallow breaking bar in or just offshore of the mouth of Packery a short time after the pass is completed.