A weekend at the shore may not be the calm outing many Bay Area residents expect. Forecasters say large surf, sneaker waves, strong rip currents and unusually high tides are lining up at once.
The National Weather Service issued a Beach Hazards Statement on Thursday for the San Francisco Peninsula coast and coastal North Bay, including Point Reyes National Seashore, warning of breaking waves up to 16 feet from Saturday morning through Monday afternoon. At the same time, a Coastal Flood Advisory runs from Friday morning through Tuesday afternoon for San Francisco Bay shoreline areas and Monterey Bay, with up to about 1.2 feet of inundation possible in low-lying spots near the water, according to the agency's coastal hazard message and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Why the water is higher than usual
High tides in San Francisco are forecast at about 1.2 feet above normal Saturday through Monday. The weather service said those peaks, boosted by surge, could flood parks, parking lots, roads and coastal trails, cut off access to some beaches and bring water farther inland than people are used to seeing. Isolated road closures are possible. Elevated water levels are tied in part to a strengthening El Niño pattern expected to linger into winter, the Chronicle reported.
Saturday also looks windy around the Golden Gate, with gusts near 30 mph and rougher seas offshore. Officials cautioned that Fleet Week boat traffic, airshows and waterfront viewing could feel the chop.
What to avoid at the water's edge
Sneaker waves can rush farther up the beach than the set before them, knocking people off rocks or into the surf. Rip currents can pull swimmers away from shore quickly. The weather service's advice is blunt: stay out of the water, keep off jetties, piers and rocks, and never turn your back on the ocean.
Farther south, Tropical Storm Rachel was still over the eastern Pacific on Thursday with sustained winds near 70 mph, hundreds of miles west of Baja California. Its remnants may help stir larger surf in Southern California waters, where seas of 10 to 16 feet are possible Sunday, but Bay Area hazards are driven mainly by northwest winds and already-high tides closer to home, the Chronicle reported. Anyone heading to the coast should check local forecasts at weather.gov/mtr before they go.