Beachgoers in San Diego County and much of the rest of Southern California were asked to exercise extra caution Sunday as a high surf advisory went into effect.
The advisory began at 11 a.m. Sunday and will expire at 8 p.m. Tuesday, as a swell from the southern hemisphere and a separate one caused by Hurricane Aletta, several hundred miles off the coast of Baja California Sur, bring dangerous rip currents and longshore currents to the local coast, according to the National Weather Service.
The surf was expected to be around four to eight feet Sunday afternoon and remain in that range for the duration of the advisory, potentially reaching as high as 12 feet in some extreme locations.
NWS forecasters advised the public to swim near a lifeguard, and to relax and float if caught in a current.
“Don’t swim against the current,” the NWS warned. “If able, swim in a direction following the shoreline to escape the current. If unable to escape, face the shore and call and wave for help.”
At the same time, another storm off the Mexican coast was poised to potentially have effects in the southwestern United States.
Hurricane Bud, the second named storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season, could push into Baja California Sur and result in some residual storms in the region late in the week or next weekend, according to The Weather Channel.
The hurricane remains offshore for now, but its outer bands have already triggered a tropical storm watch along the southwestern coast of Mexico.
–City News Service