Rachel Swell Pushes Ocean Water Into Downtown Laguna Streets as Flood Advisory Runs Through Tuesday
High tides, hurricane swell and an El Nino-raised ocean combined to push water into downtown streets, with the National Weather Service warning of more coastal flooding through the weekend.
Ocean water pushed into downtown Laguna Beach streets on Thursday as high tides, hurricane swell from Tropical Storm Rachel and an already elevated ocean combined along the Orange County coast, according to Surfer.com. The surge arrived even though the storm itself was still hundreds of miles offshore.
Rachel has weakened into a tropical storm. As of Thursday evening, the National Hurricane Center placed the system roughly 995 miles west of southern Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, with forecasters expecting it to turn northeast toward Baja and Southern California.
The National Weather Service says surf on Orange and San Diego County beaches has been running 3 to 5 feet with sets to 7 feet, while tides peak around 6.5 to 7 feet. Fox LA reported the coastal flood advisory will remain in effect through 2 p.m. Tuesday, with the greatest coastal flooding risk expected Sunday around the morning high tide, when water levels could reach about 7.5 feet.
An El Nino-fueled Kelvin wave has raised background sea levels roughly 6 to 12 inches off California, and ocean temperatures off Southern California are running about 7 to 8 degrees above average, adding to the flooding risk. The National Hurricane Center warns Rachel-generated swells will keep building through the weekend and are likely to cause “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”
Forecasters expect the system to turn northeast and accelerate, potentially making landfall Sunday in northern Baja California or near the U.S.-Mexico border as a post-tropical system, a track that will determine how much tropical moisture reaches Southern California.
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