A slow-moving tropical storm off the coast of Baja Mexico is sending large ocean swells up the coast, and advisories for high surf and strong rip currents already have been issued for Santa Barbara County’s South Coast.
The National Weather Service said Tropical Storm Lowell was 800 miles south-southwest of Point Conception on Saturday night, moving northeast at 8 mph.
High surf and rip currents are forecast for Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Sunday. Waves of 4 to 7 feet are possible with local sets as high as 10 feet.
The weather service said the southeast direction of the swell’s leading edge is likely to produce high surf and rip currents between Rincon Point and Santa Barbara beginning late Tuesday and lasting into Thursday.
The currents are expected to create extremely dangerous swimming and surfing conditions, with the possibility of large “sneaker waves” appearing out of nowhere and sweeping across rocks and jetties near the water’s edge, especially at high tide.
The storm is not expected to generate any significant rain for California, the weather service said.
Morning clouds and fog giving way to sunshine are forecast for the South Coast over the next few days, with daytime high temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s.
Well south of Lowell is Hurricane Marie, which the weather service said is expected to intensify rapidly as it moves north along a similar path. Marie could bring with it even higher surf conditions, with sets of 10-15 feet possible.
» Click here for the complete National Weather Service forecast.
» Click here for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services. Click here to sign up for the OES’ messaging service. Connect with the OES on Facebook.
— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
