SIGNIFICANT SE/SSE SWELL FROM HURRICANE MARIE TO GENERATE LARGE & CONSISTENT SURF, STRONG CURRENTS AND DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AUGUST 26TH-29TH

Peak Surf Size: Wednesday with 10-12' faces at well exposed breaks, waves to 15-20' at some spots in North Orange County and up to 25'++ faces at Wedge.

Surf size strongest for North Orange County, Southern Ventura and select parts of North LA; other areas smaller but still see strong surf and dangerous currents.

Coastal flooding possible in south facing, low lying areas Tue-Thur, maximized around the late morning and overnight higher tides.

Early morning and late afternoon low tides lead to breaking waves at some south-facing harbor entrances.

Exceptionally strong south to north longshore currents Tuesday through Friday with the extreme SE/SSE approach angle of the swell.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Aug. 25, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Surfline Forecast Team has closely monitored major hurricane Marie over the past few days and anticipate a major swell for the well exposed breaks over the next few days. Marie is an exceptionally large hurricane and was a category five storm with max sustained wind of 140 knots as it entered the Southern California swell window on Sunday. While Marie has weakened a bit this Monday morning, it remains a very powerful and large category four hurricane and is taking on a more favorable track for Southern California swell development.

Long period SE swell (155-165 degrees) will initially fill into exposed breaks throughout the afternoon on Tuesday. We'll see a peak in swell on Wednesday, with still very solid surf on Thursday, although it will be slowly easing as the swell direction turns more SSE (165-175 degrees). Friday will see dropping, although still good size, surf.  Please note that with this swell direction there will be major differences in surf size from region to region, although just about all areas will see elevated surf in some capacity and dangerous longshore and rip currents. 

Regions that will see the maximum size from this swell include North Orange County, Southern Ventura County and select portions of North LA County where consistent 8-12'+ faces can be expected on Wednesday and into Thursday, with sets at good breaks of North Orange County up to 15-20'. Standout areas like Newport's Wedge will see waves in excess of 25'++ at times. 

Breaks in South Orange County, select parts of San Diego and North LA will be smaller, but still offer sizable surf Tuesday afternoon through Thursday. A great tool to check out the areas with the largest and smallest surf on this swell event are the Surfline nearshore models, which can be accessed here: http://www.surfline.com/coast-swell-wind/southern-california/hb-waterfront-overview_58218/

Both rip and longshore currents will be extremely strong and treacherous Tuesday afternoon through Friday withe the large, consistent swell. The swell direction will approach many beaches from a nearly parallel direction so the currents will be sweeping from south to north. Jetties, piers, and other coastal obstacles may also pose additional dangers. 

Coastal flooding in low lying, south facing areas is also a possibility and the threat will be maximized around the higher tides on Wednesday and Thursday (late mornings). Furthermore, south facing harbor entrances will see breaking waves at times, especially during the early morning and early evening low tides.

One last thing to note: With high pressure building over California for the middle to second half of the week we will see sunny weather and warming temps at the beaches into the upper 70s/low 80s. Inland areas will be well into the 90s with some areas reaching triple digit temps. Although most schools are back in session, we could see an extra influx of people at the beaches with the slightly warmer than normal temps during the peak of the swell.

Please refer to the Surfline forecast for the latest details or feel free to contact us for further information or questions at leadforecasters@surfline.com 

-Kevin Wallis and The Surfline Forecast Team