Hurricane Genevieve to bring massive swells, life-threatening surf, rip currents to SoCal

Hurricane Genevieve, which is whipping up the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles off the southern tip of Baja California, will send big waves rolling toward Southern California beaches this week, creating hazardous swimming conditions, the National Weather Service says.

Now a Category 4 hurricane and moving northwest with sustained winds of about 155 mph, Genevieve is expected to generate up to 11-foot swells by Wednesday afternoon along San Diego County beaches that face south and southwest.

The hurricane will bring heavy surf and strong rip currents along L.A. County beaches, the National Weather Service says.

In most coastal areas in San Diego and Orange counties, the forecast calls for surf of 3 to 6 feet, with larger sets periodically reaching 7 feet.

Surfers are gearing up for what the website Surfline calls “one of the strongest hurricane swells of the past decade” in Southern California.

While the waves will attract experienced surfers, the National Weather Service says the hurricane is bringing life-threatening surf and rip currents that make swimming hazardous. Forecasters are urging beachgoers to check the surf forecast before choosing a beach, keep off rocks and jetties, and stay near a lifeguard.

The hurricane emerged over warm water in the Pacific, where authorities say the El Niño climate pattern has arrived and will probably bring more stormy weather than usual to the southern United States, including Southern California.

Genevieve briefly became the first Category 5 hurricane in the eastern Pacific since Kristy in 2024, with sustained winds reaching 160 mph early Monday, but within hours the winds dropped back to Category 4 speeds, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The center said in a forecast Monday afternoon that the hurricane would churn toward the northwest and west-northwest far out in the Pacific, and a “steady weakening trend is expected as it encounters cooler waters.”