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Waves to 35 Feet Forecast for the Oregon and Northern California Coast
High Surf Warnings run Friday into the weekend from Coos Bay to Big Sur, and Eureka forecasters say a second large swell follows Sunday night.
The National Weather Service has issued High Surf Warnings for much of the Oregon and Northern California coast for a swell arriving Friday, November 13. Forecasters expect dangerously large breaking waves of 25 to 35 feet, bigger than the swell that brought waves to 14 feet to California's Central Coast earlier this week.
In southern Oregon, the Medford office's warning covers the beaches of Curry, Coos and Douglas counties, including Charleston, Port Orford, Gold Beach and Brookings, from 10 a.m. Friday to 10 p.m. Saturday. Breakers of 20 to 25 feet Friday are expected to build to 30 to 35 feet late Friday through Saturday, then ease to 24 to 27 feet late Saturday afternoon. The office expects waves to surge into normally dry areas, with infrastructure damage and significant beach erosion, and says conditions are likely to stay hazardous through Sunday and possibly Monday.
The Eureka office's warning for the Del Norte and Humboldt coasts, with a matching warning for southwestern Humboldt and the Mendocino coast, runs from 1 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Sunday for breaking waves of 25 to 35 feet. Forecasters there say any improvement late Saturday into Sunday will be brief, with a second large swell forecast late Sunday through Monday.
Around San Francisco and from southern Monterey Bay to Big Sur, the warning runs from 6 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Sunday for breakers of 25 to 30 feet. Before that, a Beach Hazards Statement for sneaker waves and strong rip currents, with 15- to 20-foot breakers, runs from 9 p.m. Wednesday through 6 p.m. Friday, and a Coastal Flood Advisory warns of up to 1.5 feet of water in low-lying areas around the midday high tides through Friday afternoon.
The weather service warns that waves of this size can sweep people off jetties, docks, rocks and beaches without warning. Check the warnings for your stretch of coast before heading out, and watch the surf from well above the reach of the water.
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