Surging king tides overwhelm unsuspecting California beachgoers, video shows
Beachgoers watching extremely high tides batter a stretch of the Northern California coast last weekend got a scary surprise when surging waters knocked them off their feet, video shows.
Marcella Ogata-Day shared the clip Sunday after capturing the video at Moonstone Beach north of Eureka on Saturday. Since then, it’s been viewed more than 100,000 times on Facebook.
The clip shows a group of three standing and observing as waves roll over the rocky shore, then beginning to back up as water starts rising toward them.
But suddenly the water engulfs them, knocking the trio over and sending a rush of water into a parking lot filled with a handful of cars. Others (including the person recording the video) retreat from the water.
Ogata-Day wrote that the terrifying video shows “what sneaker waves can do.”
The Lost Coast Outpost, which first reported on the video Monday, wrote that the “power of the ocean was yet again on display during this weekend’s King Tide” — referring to the term used to describe the exceptionally high Pacific Ocean tides that lapped at shores up and down the California coast over the weekend.
“I clipped just this section to illustrate the power of the water and was glad everyone was okay,” Ogata-Day wrote in her Facebook post. “Any one of us could be there on that bank near the parking lot checking out the high tide. Any one of us can be walking along a beach on a nice sunny day and a surge comes up and pulls a dog, a friend, a family member unexpectedly. Awareness and understanding will help.”
Ogata-Day shared a link to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration safety page with tips to help beachgoers handle dangerous water situations more carefully.
“The strength of the surge can be seen on this video,” Orgata-Day wrote. “There is a perceived sense of being safe and there were plenty of times when the waves came up, then went back as expected. But waves can double up with a strong surge coming to shore which happened yesterday.”
According to the California Coastal Commission, king tides are expected along the state’s shoreline again on Feb. 8 and 9. The Commission said that — as climate change threatens to raise ocean levels — witnessing the phenomenon can help “people visualize future sea level by observing the highest high tides of today.”
NOAA described the January and February king tides as “perigean spring tides,” which occur “when the moon is either new or full and closest to earth. Higher than normal high tides and lower than normal low tides will occur.”
Ogata-Day did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Surging king tides overwhelm unsuspecting California beachgoers, video shows."
