High surf and strong rip current in Southern California raise risk of flooding and hazardous swim conditions

Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times on Nov 9, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — Coastal flooding and rip current risks remain a concern for Los Angeles and San Diego county beaches through Tuesday with a second uptick of high tides and strong surf expected later this week, according to meteorologists.

But the potential good news, forecasters say, is that areas that endured severe flooding and other coastal impacts, such as Malibu and Long Beach, aren’t at risk for another deluge.

A coastal flood advisory is in effect until noon Tuesday for Los Angeles County beaches, including off the shores of Malibu and Catalina, with an anticipated elevated surf of 4 to 6 feet. High tides are projected to peak at 7 feet during the morning hours through Tuesday.

This combination of high tides and high surf will bring hazardous swimming conditions along with dangerous conditions on rock jetties and a moderate risk of coastal flooding.

“With this situation, compared to the previous events we’ve had over the last couple of months, this one’s targeting more of the west facing beaches because we have a northwest swell. Even so, we’ll still have elevated tides,” said Devin Black, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Oxnard office.

Shallow flooding should be expected, especially for low-lying walkways, but it will be less severe, forecasters say.

Black said the tides won’t be as high as the previous record-breaking tides from two weeks ago that flooded streets from Newport Beach to Long Beach, resulting in a lower risk of coastal impacts.

San Diego County west-facing beaches are seeing elevated surf as well, much of it beginning Saturday.

“We’re already seeing a pretty good amount of rip currents and rescues yesterday, which you can imagine a combination of a warm beach day and those high surf conditions you’d have a lot of people in the water,” said Sebastian Westerink, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s San Diego office.

A seasoned surfer was separated from his surfboard by a powerful rip current near Ocean Pier on Saturday, NBC 7 San Diego reported.

Luke Jackson told the news outlet that the wave’s force ripped the leash from his ankle and left him treading water.

The surfer made it back to shore, a little shaken but unscathed. His board washed up broken.

After Tuesday the swell and tides are projected to drop in both Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. However, on Thursday and into the weekend, forecasters anticipate another uptick.

This week is also kicking off to a warm start, with high temperatures as much as 10 to 15 degrees above normal for coastal areas stretching into the western valleys. Temperatures will cool Thursday and into early next week.

As the weekend approaches, there’s a system expected to roll in just south of San Diego, aimed more at Northern Baja California, “but it does look like we could get some showers, at least a few showers Friday afternoon into some point on Saturday and potentially Sunday,” Westerink said.

The exact timing is uncertain this far out into the week.

This whiplash of warmer temperatures to cooling spells with scattered showers is pretty typical for Southern California this time of year, Westerink said.

“Some years, we have a hard time getting any rain at all,” he said. “I would say we’ve been slightly more active than usual.”

“Now that we’re in November there’s certainly more in the cards of dealing with a storm system every week or so, or just a brief period of unsettled weather followed by some longer stretches of nice and sunny weather,” he added.