A powerful storm system rolling in from the Gulf of Alaska is expected to send waves as high as 30 to 40 feet crashing into the Northern California coast from Friday night through Saturday morning, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
By Saturday morning, wave heights between San Francisco and Crescent City are forecast to range from 20 to 30 feet, with some individual waves climbing even higher.
Joe Merchant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the Chronicle the swell will be “pretty problematic,” and said similar wave events could continue into the following week. Rough seas are expected to persist through Sunday, with another significant swell possible as early as Monday.
Officials are urging people to avoid the water and stay away from beaches altogether as the storm moves through. But the size of the swell is also drawing experienced surfers hoping to catch what could be one of the biggest wave events the region has seen in years.
“I’m really excited to see what happens on Saturday because we don’t really know until the day comes,” surfer Bianca Valenti told KQED. “It doesn’t get this big very often.”
The outsized swell is tied to this year’s strong El Niño pattern, which has pushed up ocean water temperatures and brought powerful Kelvin waves to the California coastline, adding an extra layer of unpredictability for anyone in the water.
“You’re sitting in this spot and all of a sudden a wave will come out of somewhere different than expected,” professional surfer Peter Mel told KQED. “And that’s where I feel like the Kelvin wave has added its extra elements.”
Mel said he plans to assess conditions in person Saturday morning before deciding whether to paddle out.
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