Rip Current and High Surf in California, October 19 to 20, 2017

Name: Rip Current and High Surf in California, October 19 to 20, 2017
Start: 2017-10-19T14:40
End: 2017-10-20T19:05
Location: California

October 19 to 20, 2017 · NWS MTR · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

A large long period northwesterly swell arrived to the California coast bringing wave heights of 10 to 20 feet with periods of 16 to 19 seconds.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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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Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 MTR wrote it up.

A large long period northwesterly swell arrived to the California coast bringing wave heights of 10 to 20 feet with periods of 16 to 19 seconds.

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 Oct 18, 3:58 PM PST, 22 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 3:58 PM PST, 22 hours 42 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high surf, 1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, San Francisco

When: October 19, 2:40 PM PST to 3:22 PM PST
Where: San Francisco forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 37.778, -122.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The afternoon of October 19 crews from the SF Fire Department and the Coast Guard began a search for a person in distress at Ocean Beach. The search was later called off|http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/10/19/crews-search-for-man-in-distress-in-waters-off-s-f-ocean-beach/.|Buoy conditions suggest wave heights in the area were around 3-4 ft at a period of 15-16 seconds.

High Surf, San Francisco Peninsula Coast

When: October 20, 1:30 AM PST to 2:30 AM PST
Where: San Francisco Peninsula Coast forecast zone
Reported by: Buoy
Coordinates: 37.229, -122.183 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Overnight on the 20th Buoy 214 reported wave heights of 16 to 20 feet at periods of 15 to 18 seconds.

High Surf, San Francisco

When: October 20, 7:00 PM PST to 7:05 PM PST
Where: San Francisco forecast zone
Reported by: Buoy
Coordinates: 37.778, -122.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

At 6 pm PDT Buoy 237 reported wave heights at 12 feet with a period of 17 seconds.

What these are

Rip Current: A narrow, fast current flowing away from the beach that caused a drowning or rescue.
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

Every storm in California in 2017 Every state in 2017 This day in weather history Warnings in California, October 2017

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: 722264, 722267, 722266.