California, 2010High Surf in California, July 3, 2010
July 3, 2010 · NWS MTR · 1 event in 1 county or zone
Low pressure over the Pacific Ocean caused an eight to ten foot swell to travel into the coastal waters of California. At the coast, larger sets of waves, called sneaker waves, can move farther up the beaches than expected and catch visitors by surprise.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 5
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Low pressure over the Pacific Ocean caused an eight to ten foot swell to travel into the coastal waters of California. At the coast, larger sets of waves, called sneaker waves, can move farther up the beaches than expected and catch visitors by surprise. These types of waves occurred at Monastery Beach, south of Carmel.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 3, 1:00 PM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 1:00 PM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CA
200 PM PDT SAT JUL 3 2010
.DISCUSSION...AS OF 2:00 PM PDT SATURDAY...OUTSIDE OF MONTEREY BAY
AND COASTAL AREAS OF SOUTHERN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SOUTHWARD...SKIES
HAVE GENERALLY BEEN CLEAR TODAY AS A NEARLY 6 MB NORTHERLY FLOW IS
OVERPOWERING THE MUCH WEAKER 1 MB GRADIENT AT THE SURFACE. FIRST
CHALLENGE FOR THE FORECAST IS THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY INTO THE
EVENING OVER THE FAR SOUTHERN PART OF THE CWA AS CLOUDS HAVE BEEN
VERY SLOW TO CLEAR OUT. CURRENT FORECAST IS BANKING ON THEM
CLEARING OUT BY LATER THIS AFTERNOON...NEXT CREW WILL NEED TO KEEP
AN EYE ON HOW THINGS UNFOLD. OUTSIDE OF THAT ISSUE...NICE START TO
THE WEEKEND WITH TEMPERATURES IN MANY LOCATIONS RUNNING CLOSE TO 10
ABOVE YESTERDAY'S VALUES. FOR TONIGHT...CLOUDS ARE FORECAST TO
RETURN TO THE WATERS AND GENERALLY STAY OFFSHORE DUE TO THE
STRONGER NORTHERLY GRADIENT. HOWEVER...DECIDED TO LEAVE A FEW CLOUDS
IN MONTEREY BAY AND ADJACENT SPOTS AS THERE COULD BE JUST ENOUGH OF
A WESTERLY PUSH TO BRING A FEW ACROSS.
PLENTY OF SUNSHINE AND SLIGHTLY WARMER WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED ON
SUNDAY ALTHOUGH THE MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A SOUTHERLY SURGE
THROUGH THE DAY WHICH WILL BRING COOLER WEATHER TO SANTA CRUZ AND A
BANK OF CLOUDS UP THE COAST. STILL LOOKS LIKE CLOUDS WILL NOT REACH
SAN MATEO AND POINT TO THE NORTH LATE IN THE DAY. AM A BIT
CONCERNED THAT CLOUDS COULD MAKE IT INTO THE BAY BY THE EVENING
ALTHOUGH ODDS STILL FAVOR THAT TO HAPPEN AFTER MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY.
HIGHS WILL BE CLOSE TO THE VALUES TODAY ALTHOUGH A FEW DEGREES OF
WARMING ARE POSSIBLE INLAND.
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK DRY WEATHER IS FORECAST AS A
RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE AT 500 MB REMAINS IN CHARGE. ONSHORE FLOW
SHOULD ALSO RETURN AND WIDESPREAD CLOUDS CAN BE EXPECTED AT THE
COAST AND ADJACENT VALLEYS. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW AN UPPER LEVEL
LOW CLOSE TO OUR AREA BY FRIDAY. ALTHOUGH THIS WOULD LEAD TO AN
INCREASED RISK OF CONVECTION...MODIFIED TOTAL TOTALS AND LAPSE RATES
DO NOT LOOK IMPRESSIVE. KEPT OUT ANY MENTION OF CONVECTION.
&&
.AVIATION...AS OF 4:30 PM PDT SATURDAY...THE ONLY STRATUS IS
ALONG THE BIG SUR COAST AND IS RETREATING SOUTH. OFFSHORE FLOW WILL
KEEP THE SFO BAY AREA CLEAR OVERNIGHT. PATCHY LOW CLOUDS MAY
REFORM AROUND SRN MRY BAY OVERNIGHT IMPACTING MRY AND SNS FOR A FEW
HOURS EARLY SUNDAY.
VICINITY OF KSFO...VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH SUNDAY.
WEST WINDS TO 20 KT POSSIBLY GUSTING TO 25 KT THROUGH 03Z.
KSFO BRIDGE APPROACH...SAME AS KSFO.
MRY BAY AREA TERMINALS...REDUCED VSBYS TO 3-4SM ARE POSSIBLE
WITH CIGS BKN003 FOR A FEW HOURS EARLY SUNDAY MORNING...OTHERWISE
CLEAR SKIES.
&&
.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.TNGT...GALE WARNING...PT ARENA TO PIGEON PT 10 TO 60 NM
SCA...SF BAY.
SCA...PT ARENA TO PIGEON PT 0 TO 10 NM.
...PIGEON PT TO PT PIEDRAS BLANCAS 10 TO 60 NM
&&
PUBLIC FORECAST: BELL
AVIATION/MARINE: LARRY/W PI
NWS ON THE WEB AT WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCOHigh Surf, Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast
- When
- July 3, 5:45 PM PST to 6:15 PM PST
- Where
- Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 5 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Newspaper
- Coordinates
- 36.240, -121.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
As many as ten people at Monastery Beach, south of Carmel, were caught by surprise as a sneaker wave washed them from the beach into the ocean. A Good Samaritan decided to help with the rescue and died after pulling at least one person to safety. Another beachgoer succumbed to injuries and died the next day. Five others were taken to local hospitals and then released.
- High Surf
- Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Rip Current in South Carolina, July 3, 20101 death · 1 injured · 1 event
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in Iowa, July 3 to 5, 2010$300,000 · 20 events
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Nebraska, July 3, 2010$360,000 · 1.75 in hail · 15 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 3, 2010$92,000 · 1 in hail · 11 events
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 3, 201070 kt wind · 7 events
- Tornado and Hail in Nebraska, July 3, 2010EF0 · 5 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 3, 20101 in hail · 4 events
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 3 to 4, 20103 events
- Flash Flooding in New Mexico, July 3, 2010$9,000 · 2 events
- Hail in Wyoming, July 3, 20101.75 in hail · 2 events
- Waterspout in Gulf of Mexico, July 3, 20101 event
- Hail in North Dakota, July 3, 20101.75 in hail · 1 event
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 254073.