While surf conditions up and down the West Coast remained perilous Thursday, conditions should not get worse as of the afternoon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.
The National Weather Service issued a High Surf Warning for the Central and Northern California coastline that is in effect until 3 a.m. Friday. A few evacuation warnings and orders were issued Thursday but have since been rescinded.
Evacuation orders were put out for areas around Stinson Beach in Marin County on Thursday morning, though the orders were lifted around 1:45 p.m. Evacuation warnings were also lifted for Santa Cruz County residents in the areas of Capitola Village, Pajaro Dunes, Seacliff State Beach and Rio Del Mar as of 3:15 p.m.
According to Alexis Clouser, a meteorologist with the weather service, some coastal areas are seeing 28- to 33-foot breaking waves that have caused flooding, road closures and evacuations.
However, Clouser said the worst of the swells happened Thursday morning.
“High tide was between about 10:30-11:30 a.m. for the regions, so we are we’re on the backside now,” Clouser said. “The highest wave heights we probably would have seen would have been early this morning. That being said, we don’t have a good way to measure breaking wave heights.”
Clouser wanted to stress that even though evacuations might be lifted and conditions are becoming less dramatic, everyone should steer clear of the waves.
Images of “wave watchers” being engulfed by swells have been shared on social media Thursday, as well as intrepid surfers taking advantage of the massive waves at Mavericks Beach, a world-famous surfing site in El Granada in San Mateo County.
“We do want encourage people to stay away from the water and it’s not a safe time to be in the water or near the water — the conditions are deadly,” Clouser said. “Please stay off rocks, piers, jetties. It’s very unsafe and you can easily washed down by a wave.”
A surfer who was reported to be in distress at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica on Thursday morning made their way back to shore with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the North County Fire Authority.
The fire authority initially wrote on social media shortly before 8:40 a.m. about the emergency response, then put out an update about 40 minutes later saying the surfer was no longer in any danger.
In Aptos on the north end of Monterey Bay, surf overran the beach and swept into a parking lot, leaving the area strewn with debris. Santa Cruz County issued warnings for people in several coastal areas to be ready to evacuate.
“Mother Nature’s angry,” Eve Krammer, an Aptos resident for several years, said. “I mean these waves are gnarly. They’re huge.”
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The same area was battered by the ocean last January as the West Coast was slammed by numerous atmospheric rivers.
“I feel for the people that are down low here,” Jeff Howard, also an Aptos resident, said.
While not quite as huge, the waves along Southern California were also described as hazardous, with life-threatening rip currents. Nonetheless, surfers couldn’t resist.
Patience was key, according to Alex Buford, 27, who was catching waves just north of Manhattan Beach on the Los Angeles County coast.
“I was waiting for awhile because the waves were really sick, and they’re kinda hard to get into even though I have a really big board,” he said. “Just waited for a good one and I got it and it was a long one. Pretty big. It was sick.”
In Hawaii, the weather service forecast surf rising to 30 to 40 feet along north-facing shores and 18 to 22 feet along west-facing shores of five islands.
Professional Hawaii surfer Sheldon Paishon was getting ready to surf Thursday morning at Makaha, a world-famous surfing beach on Oahu’s west side.
Paishon, 30, has been surfing at various spots around Oahu this week, taking advantage of waves during this week’s high surf warning in effect till Friday morning.
“It’s always big waves in the wintertime in Hawaii,” he said.
He warned that novice surfers should check with lifeguards before heading into the water and “make sure you got some people around you and stay safe.”
Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguards, posted at beaches across Oahu, rescued 20 people along the island’s famed North Shore on Wednesday, said spokesperson Shayne Enright. They were also busy with thousands of “preventative actions,” she said.
“This time of year produces incredible surf but it can also be very dangerous,” she said.
The dangerous surf could also cause surges that could hit coastal properties and roads, the weather service warned.
(2) comments
Everyone please exercise extreme caution when dealing with the Ocean during these big storms - sneaker waves are a very dangerous reality. People need to understand that water does not compress and will continue in its path until gravity takes it back - which means it will take out ANY obstacle in its path. Please be careful everyone - especially with the little ones. I recommend to stand at least 2-3 times farther away from the Ocean than you perceive a safe distance to be.
Hopefully people will learn from this video!
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