A coastal flood advisory will be in effect from noon Friday to noon Tuesday along the entire San Diego County coastline due to the influence El Niño is having on high tides and the expected arrival of strong waves from the west-northwest and southwest, the National Weather Service says.
The El Niño-enhanced high tide is projected to reach 7.4 feet Saturday morning and 7.5 feet or higher Sunday morning, forecasters said. The waves, especially on Sunday, will be in the 3-foot to 5-foot range, with occasional sets of 6 to 7 feet.
The conditions could cause minor run-ups on local beaches, flooding in places such as the Mission Beach boardwalk and coastal parking lots and waves that hit seawalls, forecasters said.
Erosion is also likely to occur in areas that have been fine until now. A seasonal shift has occurred, causing many large waves to arrive from the west and west-northwest, which puts them on a more direct, head-on path to local beaches, forecasters say. These kinds of waves contributed to a surge that sent water all the way to the foot of the cliffs at Blacks Beach in La Jolla on Thursday.
The big tides and waves will arrive during a weekend in which beach attendance is likely to be higher than normal. Forecasters say that a high-pressure system and Santa Ana winds will push the daytime high in San Diego and Oceanside to 86 on Saturday and 88 on Sunday. The seasonal high is 73.
The ocean is also very warm, with temperatures in the 74- to 76-degree range. Many beautiful species of fish that are rarely see locally, including razor surgeonfish and three-banded butterflyfish, have been sighted recently in San Diego County waters, including La Jolla Cove, according to UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The temperature at Scripps Pier on Thursday morning was 75.6 degrees.