Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Category 5 Hurricane Genevieve will not make US landfall, but the National Weather Service warns its swell will bring 8 to 11 foot surf and dangerous rip currents to Southern California beaches through midweek.
Hurricane Genevieve strengthened into a Category 5 storm on Monday, July 27, the first Category 5 in the eastern Pacific since Hurricane Kristy in 2024. The National Hurricane Center placed its center about 530 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, with maximum sustained winds near 160 mph. The storm was moving northwest at about 13 mph, and forecasters expect steady weakening to begin Tuesday.
Genevieve is not forecast to make landfall, and no coastal warnings are in effect for the United States. A hurricane can stay hundreds of miles offshore and still reach American beaches through the water it pushes ahead of itself.
The National Weather Service expects long-period swell from Genevieve to build along the Pacific coast of Baja California on Monday night and spread into Southern California through midweek. South and southwest facing beaches in San Diego County could see surf of 8 to 11 feet, with the largest waves arriving Wednesday, July 29. Bigger surf drives stronger rip currents, and those currents are the hazards of hurricanes that reach the farthest from the storm itself.
Rip currents are the danger to respect this week. A rip current moves faster than anyone can swim against, and it pulls away from the beach rather than under the surface. The instinct to fight straight back to shore only wears a swimmer out. If a current takes you, stay calm and float, then swim parallel to the shore until you are free of the pull before you angle back in. Anyone heading to the coast can check the local surf forecast, swim near a lifeguard, and keep small children within arm's reach at the water line.
A major hurricane offshore is a fair reminder to cover the basics before the next system forms. It helps to know how to prepare for a hurricane well ahead of any warning, and the households along the usual places at risk of hurricanes carry that exposure all season, but this week the danger belongs to anyone who walks into the surf.
Genevieve is still evolving, and its track and the size of its swell will shift with each advisory. For now it is a Category 5 that will never come ashore in the United States, yet it can still put dangerous water on our beaches from more than a thousand miles away.
