Overview
- Storm-driven swells produced very large breaking waves commonly 20–35 feet high with some sets reaching about 50 feet, prompting the National Weather Service to issue an “extreme” waves advisory and widespread high surf warnings.
- The waves flooded parking lots, closed beaches and roads, and led local officials to issue evacuation warnings for shoreline homes and to tell residents to stay off the sand and jetties.
- Video and on-the-ground reporting show a concrete seawall on Pacifica’s Beach Boulevard lifted, buckled and cracked after waves hurled chunks of concrete into the street, and the city has cordoned off the damaged area.
- Officials warned that a lull expected for Sunday could be brief because a second swell was forecast to arrive on Monday, and forecasters said hazardous surf would likely continue along much of the West Coast into early next week.
- Scientists and agencies link the season’s extreme surf to a strong El Niño and a warm Kelvin-wave-driven rise in local sea levels, which boost wave runup and heighten erosion and infrastructure risk for runways, roads and low-lying neighborhoods.