SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – At Mission Beach, the waves are really kicking as we're under this latest coastal flood advisory until Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m.
Lifeguards are saying people need to be cautious and careful of those rip currents.
“So, we have surf from the hurricane, and that's coming from the south, and then we have a northwest wind swell. So, we have a lot of water moving,” said Marine Safety Lt. Brian Clark with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division.
Right now, Clark said people need to be mindful about wading into these kinds of waves.
“When you're in the water, and there's all that water moving with the strong currents, there's going to be stronger rip currents, and it's going to be a lot more hazardous for people,” Clark said. “So even people who have experience in the water, everyone has their limits, and this could be beyond a lot of people's limitations.”
These waves are a part of a possible impact that could be coming to San Diego County’s coast amid El Niño.
“It could be for this whole fall winter system as long as that warm water keeps building offshore, that's more energy available to feed the storms, which in turn send the waves to strip the sand off our beaches and erode the sea cliffs,” geologist Pat Abbott said.
ABC 10News spoke with Abbott about how the El Niño impacts we are seeing and could see impacting our coast when it comes to erosion.
“So, for waves now have easier access to the sea cliffs, no sand on the beaches, and higher tides, so they get good access to the base of the cliffs to undercut it,” Abbott said. “And if this El Niño water feeds our winter storms in fall and winter and we have a lot of rainfall, well, we saw what happened back in 2023, 2024. We had rain month after month after month, and we had sea cliffs collapsing up and down the county coastline.”
