While San Diego is riding a wave of storms hitting the region, surfers are taking the conditions to their advantage by trying to catch a "big one."
Friday may be another good day for that as waves are expected to be on average 7 to 10 feet with some sets up to 12 feet in some parts of San Diego County, NBC 7 Meteorologist Sheena Parveen said. Wave heights will still be high on Saturday -- when San Diego is expected to be hit with another storm -- and will drop slightly on Sunday.
A high surf advisory is in effect through 10 p.m. on Sunday.
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The big waves could cause coastal flooding and bluff erosion, like the last one, which sent waves over the seawall in Mission Beach and into beachside properties. They also battered the Ocean Beach Pier and closed it indefinitely. This round of high surf could add to the damage.
A coastal flood advisory is in effect through 10 p.m. Saturday warning of flooding in low-lying beach areas, parking lots and boardwalks, particularly during high tide.
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Along the bluffs, scientists with Scripps Institution of Oceanography working with San Diego Lifeguards are monitoring for erosion with radar systems. Geologists say the oversaturation from storms weakens the coastal cliffs, which can be dangerous to beachgoers.
In Encinitas, high surf closed the popular Stonesteps beach access point after the support beam for some of the decks were deemed "structurally unsafe." The staircase will need replacement, the city said.
The latest storm, expected to reach San Diego Saturday afternoon, is part of a series of atmospheric rivers to pound California that has left 19 people dead, roadways destroyed, and forced residents to evacuate in several parts of Central and Northern California.
Those storms -- and the next in the series -- are far less destructive for San Diego County but have also led to coastal flooding, bluff erosion and damaging high waves in our neck of the woods.
San Diego County can expect to see the first rainfall Saturday afternoon, Parveen said. Showers will linger into Sunday but conditions wil dry up as the day progresses.
"Most of the rain Saturday looks later in the day and then at night," Parveen said.
This storm will be followed by another system expected to bring rain and mountain snow to the county Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
By the time the two storm systems are through, San Diego County could see up to and inch and a half to two inches of rain, Parveen said.
