High Surf — Northern Monterey Bay, California

2016-01-16 to 2016-01-18 · Northern Monterey Bay, California

Event narrative

Five people were swept into the ocean by a 15-foot wave around 5 pm PST on Monday, January 18, 2016 at Bonny Doon Beach in Santa Cruz County. Three were able to climb out of the water and were later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard while two remained missing and were presumed dead.

Wider weather episode

A series of storms over the northern Pacific generated large long period swell which impacted the coast of Northern and Central California from January 16 through January 18. Swell increased through the day Saturday January 16 and then peaked Saturday Night and Sunday January 17. Swell height gradually decreased Sunday Night and into Monday January 18, but remained relatively high through the 18th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 608577. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.