Life-Threatening Rip Currents Threaten Southern California Beaches Through Tuesday

Advisories remain active through 11 p.m. Tuesday

LOS ANGELES — Dangerous surf and rip currents remain an immediate public-safety threat along much of the Southern California coast on Labor Day. National Weather Service offices covering Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties kept high-surf and coastal-flood advisories in effect through 11 p.m. Tuesday, September 8.

The Los Angeles/Oxnard office forecasts breaking waves of 5 to 8 feet, with local sets to 12 feet, at Catalina and Santa Barbara islands and beaches in Ventura County, Malibu and Los Angeles County. It describes the rip currents as dangerous and potentially life-threatening, especially on south-facing shores.

For Orange and San Diego county beaches, the San Diego weather office forecasts 4- to 7-foot breaking waves with sets up to 10 feet. It also warns of strong rip and longshore currents, beach erosion and minor coastal flooding during the evening high tides. Those ranges are regional forecasts, not a promise that every beach will see the maximum wave height.

Read the source: National Weather Service: Southern California coastal flood and high-surf advisories ↗

Newport Beach lifeguards reported 177 rescues Saturday

Newport Beach lifeguard battalion chief Adam Yacenda told the Associated Press that lifeguards carried out 177 rescues Saturday. He said a day approaching 100 rescues is busy and described red-flag conditions across the city's beaches, with strong currents running along the shore and out to sea.

The count documents an unusually demanding day for rescuers, but it should be interpreted carefully. The available report does not give a case-by-case cause, injury total or demographic breakdown, and it does not establish that each incident resulted from Marie rather than the combined surf, tide, crowd and swimmer conditions.

AP reported that Long Beach issued a three-day advisory against swimming at city beaches and bays because rain runoff can create unhealthy water conditions. That water-quality warning is separate from the rip-current threat: a beach can be hazardous because of surf, contaminated runoff or both.

Read the source: National Weather Service: Beach hazards statement for the Central Coast ↗

The highest coastal-flood risk arrives near evening high tides

The Los Angeles/Oxnard advisory calls for a high tide near 7 feet at 7 p.m. Monday and 7.2 feet at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The office expects seawater flooding around vulnerable beaches, parking lots, walkways and low-lying roads, with particular concern for the Alamitos Peninsula in Long Beach and additional exposure from Oxnard to Malibu and on Catalina Island.

The San Diego office lists a predicted 6.2-foot high tide at Newport Beach at 7:08 p.m. Monday and 6.1 feet at La Jolla at 7:03 p.m. It says recent observed water levels have run roughly six inches above predictions. Forecast and observed tides are not identical, so later official measurements should replace these planning figures when they become available.

Seal Beach said two beachfront parking lots would remain closed until Wednesday morning, according to AP. A parking-lot closure is not a closure of the entire coastline, but drivers must obey barricades and local instructions. The Weather Service specifically warns against driving through water of unknown depth or around a barrier.

Read the source: Associated Press: Dangerous surf and 177 Newport Beach rescues ↗

Stay out of the water or remain near an occupied lifeguard tower

The safest course is to remain out of the water while the advisories are active. Anyone who enters should do so only near an occupied lifeguard tower and follow the lifeguard's instructions. The Weather Service warns that large waves can wash people off rocks and beaches, injure people at the shoreline and capsize small boats near shore.

Rock jetties, piers and exposed coastal structures are especially dangerous because a large wave can cross ground that appeared dry moments earlier. Fishing or watching the surf from those locations is not a safe alternative to swimming. People should never turn their backs on the ocean and should keep children well away from the reach of breaking waves.

If caught in a rip current, NOAA safety guidance generally advises staying calm, avoiding a direct fight against the current and swimming parallel to shore until free before angling back. A person who cannot escape should float or tread water and signal for help. A witness should alert a lifeguard or call 911 rather than entering dangerous water without rescue training or equipment.

Read the source: National Hurricane Center: Current Eastern Pacific tropical-cyclone advisories ↗

Marie is offshore; California is facing its swell, not a landfall

Marie remained over the eastern Pacific and the National Hurricane Center identified it as a tropical storm Monday morning. The immediate California hazard comes from long-period southerly swell and high tides reaching the coast, not from the storm's center making landfall in Southern California.

That distinction matters because social posts describing California as being hit by a hurricane would exaggerate the forecast. The verified danger is already serious without that claim: strong currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea, large waves can sweep people from rocks and coastal flooding can reach vulnerable roads and structures.

The accompanying image is an authentic NOAA GOES-West satellite observation of Marie over the eastern Pacific on September 5. NOAA's image metadata carries a CC0 1.0 dedication and requests credit to CIRA/NOAA. The satellite view does not depict Monday's waves, any rescue, beachgoer, closure or flooding location.

What’s the Scoop With Broach will keep this report tied to dated records and named sources. Coverage of the high-surf, rip-current and coastal-flood hazards affecting Southern California beaches through Tuesday night as swell from Marie reaches the coast should change only when new evidence changes the verified account. For beachgoers, swimmers, surfers, anglers, boaters and residents or drivers near low-lying coastal areas, that means future updates will identify the issuing institution, explain what is newly established and preserve any uncertainty that remains. Readers can use the source list below to inspect the underlying material and distinguish this newsroom’s synthesis from the official documents and independently reported facts on which it relies.

Read the source: Seal Beach Marine Safety: Official lifeguard hours and emergency contact ↗