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The Surf’s Way, Way Up as Huge Waves Pound the California Coast

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Officials warned onlookers to stay off the beaches as waves of more than 50 feet in spots posed hazards. The intense conditions were too dangerous for even seasoned surfers at some beaches.

A crowd of people stands on a grassy bluff overlooking large, breaking ocean waves under a hazy sky.

By Amy Graff and Jesse Klein

Amy Graff is a reporter on The Times’s weather team. She is based in San Francisco.

Nov. 14, 2026

The largest waves in nearly two years pounded the California coast on Saturday, with the intense surf crashing onto beaches and raising the threat of flooding to coastal roads and communities.

High surf and coastal flood warnings and advisories were in effect along the coast as the National Weather Service advised people to stay out of the water and not even get near it.

“No selfie of the crashing waves is worth losing your life,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office in Monterey, Calif.

The tumultuous surf arrived with a powerful swell that was generated by intense winds thousands of miles off the coast and traveled across the Pacific, building energy along the way.

The waves at the coast grew in size Friday night, as a rainstorm swept the state. They grew even larger Saturday morning, smashing into coastal piers and sending water farther up beaches than usual.

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