Hurricane-force waves smash California coast as tempest looms with flash flood warnings issued

Massive waves have started battering the Southern California coastline as experts warned homeowners to brace for flash flooding from a looming storm.Former hurricane Rachel, currently downgraded to a tropical storm, sent huge swells into Long Beach overnight and into Thursday morning.Video showed the waves slapping the coast with explosive force.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story Tropical Storm Rachel will make landfall this weekend in Southern California, though it is unclear what level of storm will hit the mainland.Current NOAA forecasts say it will stay a tropical storm, becoming the first such storm to make landfall in SoCal since 1939.Coastal Flood Advisories are already in place for LA County Beaches, Ventura County Beaches, the Malibu Coast, and the Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands.Coastal Flood Advisories are also in place for San Diego County Coastal Areas and Orange County Coastal areas.Officials warn the storm will bring widespread rainfall, strong winds, and coastal flooding in SoCal.There is also a threat of flash and urban flooding.

Swells will create “life-threatening” surf and rip-current conditions.AccuWeather forecasts rainfall as heavy as 2 to 4 inches in the storm’s track.The storm’s effect on the coast could be exacerbated by an ongoing “Kelvin wave,” a super-massive but regularly occurring wave that raises background sea levels for months by as much as a foot.

Combined with Tropical Storm Rachel’s waves, it could have devastating effects.“The Kelvin wave by itself will not cause flooding,” Dillon Amaya, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University’s Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, told the LA Times.However, “if there are storms forecasted or a high tide coming up, that is when th...