Dangerous Sneaker waves possible on Central Coast

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION 2019) The National Weather Service has a Beach Hazard Alert in effect on Santa Cruz and Monterey County shores.

A long period northwest swell will continue to impact the coastline from Sonoma southward through Big Sur. The risk of sneaker waves impacting the coast remains high along the coastline, according to the NWS. A sneaker wave is powerful enough to knock unsuspecting people into the ocean.

“We all know Monastery beach as being the most dangerous, and there you have the sleeper waves or sneaker waves and the waves come out of the Monterey Submarine Canyon they don’t slow down at all they just come out of deep water and knock people off the water,” State Parks Lifeguard Kevin Brady said.

The northwest swell has the ability to generate breaking waves of 17 to 22 feet at favored locations. Swell periods will decrease throughout the day on Thursday, but breaking waves of 15 to 20 feet will still be possible, the NWS said.

Lifeguard Brady has made at least 100 saves in his tenure in Monterey County, and sees tragedies like Tuesday at Carmel River State Beach on an annual basis.

A Monterey father, Paul Lewis, drowned on Christmas Eve when he tried to save his daughter who was sucked into sea after playing in the lagoon.

“It's like a washing machine. It pushes you up and back and at Monastery and at Carmel River the thing to do is to swim out to sea. You only need to swim out 20 yards to get away from it, but people don’t realize that,” Brady said.

Swimmers should avoid swimming in areas of large shore break and always swim near a lifeguard. Fisherman should avoid fishing from rocks or jetties. The NWS says be sure to always keep your eyes on the ocean.

The beach alert is expected to end Thursday evening.