25-Foot Waves May Hit California

But Hurricane Marie not expected to hit land
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2014 1:58 AM CDT
Hurricane Bringing Huge Surf to California
This NOAA satellite image shows Hurricane Marie about 500 miles southwest of the Baja Peninsula.    (AP Photo/Weather Underground)

A massive hurricane is moving north from Mexico's coast, and while it's not expected to hit land in the US, Southern California can expect some huge and possibly dangerous waves starting today and peaking tomorrow, authorities say. Hurricane Marie is weakening slightly, but some surf spots could see waves up to 25 feet high, and Los Angeles County beaches used to much smaller waves could see 15-footers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Strong rip currents are expected, and lifeguards warn that only the strongest, most experienced swimmers and surfers should go in the water. "The gist is, if you’re not a strong, strong aquatics person with fins, come down and watch from the safety of the shore," says the chief of the Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion. In Mexico's Oaxaca state, some 10,000 homes were flooded or cut off by mudslides caused by Marie's rains, but the state government says the hurricane hasn't caused any deaths, the AP reports. (More Hurricane Marie stories.)

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