The National Weather Service, or NWS, has issued a High Surf Advisory for San Luis Obispo County beaches. The advisory began at 7:41 a.m. today and is projected to end at noon tomorrow, Nov. 10.
Moderate coastal flooding and large, breaking waves between 10 to 16 feet are to be expected on San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County beaches, according to a map created by NWS.
Rip currents and large, breaking waves can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea, capsize boats and cause flooding over low-lying coastal areas during times of high tide, according to NWS.
“With [the tide] being higher, the elevation of the beach is used to that smaller tide. So it can surge way up the beach and wipe people off their feet,” said Kyle Schaffer, harbor patrol officer three with the Port San Luis Harbor District. “We’re going to see surf and water farther up beaches and parking lots and places where it doesn’t normally go.”
NWS has advised San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County residents to remain out of the water due to the dangerous surf conditions and to protect any flood-vulnerable property. They advised high surf, coastal flooding and beach hazards for 17 coastal counties in California.
El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern where the Pacific Ocean’s trade winds send warm waters into the Eastern Pacific Ocean, will cause storms and extreme high and low tides this winter on California’s coastline.
“The warm water is causing the tides to be higher than predicted. So, like today, if you look at the Port St. Louis tide meter, forecasted was 5.04 feet approximately, and it was actually a 7.03 high tide,” Schaffer said.
READ MORE: Central Coast ecosystems brace for a super El Niño
NWS forecast a low pressure storm with hurricane-force winds to develop Saturday about 1,200 miles west of Oregon. It’s expected to strengthen as it moves toward Washington state. Storms in the North Pacific generate waves that travel across the Pacific and hit California’s beaches, according to Schaffer.
“If you throw a rock in a puddle, that first wave is going to be strongest, and it goes far across the puddle. So that energy transfers really well once it’s reached that speed and that intensity,” Schaffer said. “It’s exposed ocean, so there’s nothing in between the U.S. and the Pacific. California is open to it.”
NWS advisories may extend over the next week, according to the Local Conditions website.