In this paper a discrete extended Kalman filter for the tidal prediction has been developed. The filter is based on a set of difference equations derived from the one dimensional shallow water equations using the finite difference scheme proposed by Lax-Wendroff. The filter gives estimates of the water level and water velocity, together with the parameters in the model which essentially have a random character, e.g. bottom friction and wind stress. The estimates are propagated and updated by the filter when the physical circumstances change. The Kalman-filter is applied to field data gathered in the coastal area alon the West Sea and it is shown that the filter gives satisfactory results in forecasting the waterlevels during storm surge periods.