The California coast could see its highest waves in years Saturday, when 30-foot breakers slam against shores from Crescent City to San Francisco to Big Sur. Waves as high as 50 feet could crash at Mavericks near Half Moon Bay. The National Weather Service has issued stark warnings: “The risk of drowning is very high this weekend. Do not go in the water.”
Huge waves are a hallmark of a strong El Niño — and California is virtually certain to see more of them this winter.
The weekend waves derive from an area of persistent low pressure in the northern Pacific, between the West Coast and Gulf of Alaska. Gulf of Alaska lows are often stronger during El Niño, as tropical oceanic heat sends energy poleward and alters the position of high and low-pressure systems in the northern Pacific…