Huge swell coming; up to 20-foot at Wedge
A massive swell is making its way to Orange County beaches this week – getting surfers excited, but posing a big danger for beachgoers spending the unofficial last days of summer at the coast.
The south swell is traveling 6,000 miles – from where pro surfers got slammed during the Billabong Pro Tahiti - to get here. It will start to show late Wednesday night, filling in Thursday and peaking Friday through Saturday. The waves will drop a bit – but will still be large – Sunday and Monday.
The largest spot will be the Wedge – up to 20-foot and even larger. Swells here double in size when waves bounce off the Newport Harbor jetty. Crowds come to cheer on the crazy riders who take on the dangerous spot, but note that this is an expert-only spot. Two years ago, a man unfamiliar with the Wedge died when a big swell hit and he got slammed on the rocks.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 2:36PM
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