Long period waves from a distant storm produced a wave climate on the beaches of Northern California that had a very strong set behavior, though the overall wave height was well below advisory criteria. This set behavior leads to periods when the waves are relatively small and then periods of much higher waves occur without warning.
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.
The episode as NWS EKA wrote it up.
Long period waves from a distant storm produced a wave climate on the beaches of Northern California that had a very strong set behavior, though the overall wave height was well below advisory criteria. This set behavior leads to periods when the waves are relatively small and then periods of much higher waves occur without warning.
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 Eureka, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 20, 2:32 PM PST, 9 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA 232 PM PST THU JAN 20 2011 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL MAINTAIN DRY AND MILD WEATHER TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY. A WEAK FRONT WILL DISSIPATE ALONG THE OREGON BORDER FRIDAY NIGHT...BUT MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO BRING PATCHY DRIZZLE OR A FEW SPRINKLES TO AREAS NORTH OF CAPE MENDOCINO. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN FOR THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE CURRENTLY CENTERED ALONG 135W WILL MAINTAIN DRY AND MILD TO WARM CONDITIONS THROUGH MUCH OF THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. A NEAR PERSISTENCE FORECAST IS EXPECTED FOR TOMORROW...BUT A WEAK FRONT WILL GRAZE THE OREGON/CALIFORNIA BORDER FRIDAY NIGHT WITH POTENTIALLY A FEW SPRINKLES OR PATCHY DRIZZLE FOR OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES. HIGH PRESSURE RAPIDLY BUILDS BACK...WITH MODERATE OFFSHORE FLOW LIKELY TO YIELD ABOVE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES AND PARTLY CLOUDY/MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. MARINE STRATUS WILL PROBABLY DEVELOP AT SOME POINT AS THE AIRMASS WARMS...BUT IS LIKELY TO BE FAIRLY PATCHY UNTIL THE THERMAL TROUGH LIFTS NORTH MONDAY NIGHT OR TUESDAY. BURGER && .AVIATION...HIGH PRESSURE AND WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW WILL MAINTAIN MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS TONIGHT. PATCHY FOG WITH TEMPORARY MVFR CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AROUND HUMBOLDT BAY AND ACROSS THE INTERIOR VALLEYS LATE TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING. TH && .MARINE...PRESSURE GRADIENT HAS RELAXED AND PULLED OFF SHORE SO THAT THE BUOYS AT CRESCENT CITY AND POINT ARENA ARE REPORTING WELL BELOW SMALL CRAFT CONDITIONS. THE CONDITIONS ARE STILL SUSPECT IN THE OUTER WATERS HOWEVER...ISOLATED POCKETS MAY STILL SEE WIND GUSTS UP TO 30 KNOTS...ESPECIALLY THE AREA AROUND CAPE MENDOCINO. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS...BUT HAVE LEFT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES HOISTED FOR THE OUTER WATERS BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE FORECAST. A LONG PERIOD WESTERLY SWELL WILL ENTER THE WATERS BY MIDDAY TOMORROW...AND WILL BUILD THROUGH THE DAY TO PEAK AT 13 FEET AROUND 17 SECONDS BY EARLY SATURDAY. EXACT TIMING OF WHEN THAT SWELL WILL ARRIVE IS IN FLUX. MAY BE AS EARLY AS THE EARLY MORNING HOURS FRIDAY. MSB && .EKA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...NONE. NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM NOON FRIDAY TO 2 PM PST MONDAY PZZ450-455. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 2 PM PST MONDAY PZZ470-475. && VISIT US AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/EUREKA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA 347 PM PST THU JAN 20 2011 CAZ001-002-211700- REDWOOD COAST-MENDOCINO COAST- 347 PM PST THU JAN 20 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. LONG PERIOD SWELL WILL PRODUCE BREAKERS OF 18 TO 20 FEET IN THE SURF ZONE FRIDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. CAZ003-004-076-211700- NORTH COAST INTERIOR-UPPER TRINITY RIVER-MENDOCINO INTERIOR- 347 PM PST THU JAN 20 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
At 9:30 a.m. on January 21, two woman were knocked into the ocean by a sneaker wave. One woman made it back to safety but the other woman died.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Surf, Redwood Coast | 2011-01-21 | Female | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2011
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: 281573.