California, 2016

High Surf in California, July 1 to 2, 2016

July 1 to 2, 2016 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A brief long period south swell brought high surf to the beaches of Orange County.

Where it happened

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.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

A brief long period south swell brought high surf to the beaches of Orange County.

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 Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 1, 2:50 AM PST, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 2:50 AM PST, 5 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service San Diego CA
350 AM PDT FRI JUL 1 2016

.SYNOPSIS...
Southwestern California will remain on the western edge of mid
level monsoonal moisture today with widely scattered thunderstorms
expected for the mountains and upper deserts for this afternoon.
Drying aloft will follow for this weekend through next week as a
trough of low pressure develops near the West Coast. High
temperatures will remain near average. The marine layer and
onshore flow will bring areas of night and morning low clouds and
fog from the coast into portions of the valleys.

&&

.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...

Early this morning...a thunderstorm complex was over northeastern
San Bernardino County and far southern Nevada with an outflow
boundary moving southward across San Bernardino County.

Mid level moisture remains centered around 600 mb...with higher
resolution models showing the development of widely scattered
thunderstorms this afternoon near the mountain ridge tops and
along the desert mountain slopes and in the upper deserts...mainly
along and east of interstate 15.

A developing trough of low pressure near the West Coast will
bring drier southwest flow aloft for the weekend into next week
with near seasonal high temperatures. The marine layer and weak
onshore flow will keep coastal areas cooler with areas of night
and morning coastal low clouds and fog extending into portions of
the valleys. Higher resolution models show the marine layer
becoming deep enough for stratus to extend into the far inland
valleys Saturday morning...then becoming gradually shallower
through next week.

&&

.AVIATION...
Coast/Valleys...BKN-OVC stratus 25-30 miles inland will continue
this morning, with clearing in the valleys between 16-18z, and
partial clearing at the coast 18-20z. Bases will be 1000-1700 ft MSL
with tops to 2500 ft MSL. Areas of vis 3-5 mi will occur in the
valleys this morning with local vis below 1 mi vcnty KRNM, KF70 and
KRIV. Confidence of forecast is moderately high.

Mountains/Deserts...Mostly clear skies with unrestricted VIS will
prevail this morning, then areas of SCT-BKN cu/tcu will develop this
afternoon with bases 9000 ft MSL. Isolated thunderstorms mainly
mountaintop based with tops to 45000 ft MSL possible. Sfc wind gusts
to 40 kt possible near any stronger storms. Chance of t-storms
diminishes rapidly by sunset.

&&

.MARINE...
No hazardous marine weather is expected through Tuesday.

&&

.BEACHES...
Latest nearshore buoy reports continue to show a 5-6 ft/18 second
swell from 200 degrees, and swell was mostly 4-6 feet on southwest
facing beaches earlier Thursday. Swell should very gradually lower
later today and through the weekend, though strong dangerous rip
currents will continue through this evening. Most of the surf will
be 5 feet or less by Saturday, though strong rip currents will still
be possible, which could cause issues due to large beach crowds
expected over the holiday weekend. The Beach Hazards Statement
remains in effect through this evening, and may be extended later
today.

&&

.SKYWARN...
Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are
encouraged to report significant weather conditions.

&&

.SGX Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
CA...Beach Hazards Statement through this evening for Orange County
     Coastal Areas-San Diego County Coastal Areas.

PZ...None.
&&

PUBLIC...17
AVIATION/MARINE/BEACHES...JMB

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Orange County Coastal

When
July 1, 8:00 AM PST to July 2, 10:00 PM PST
Where
Orange County Coastal forecast zone
Reported by
Lifeguard
Coordinates
33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lifeguards at Huntington beach reported 6 to 8 ft surf with occasional sets to 9 ft on the 1st.

What these are

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.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2016

Sources

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: 652452.