California rip currents and high surf
Every recorded rip current or surf record since 1996 · 39 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 680 rip current and surf records in California from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 21 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the July 14, 2010 high surf in Marin County and Sonoma County: 4 deaths and $27,000 in damage in 2025 dollars. California ranks 3rd of 34 states and territories by count and 8th of 34 per square mile.
Rip currents and high surf in California, 1996 to 2026
Surf records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 6801996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 21average
- Deaths
- 194262 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $162Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 199854 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are rip current and surf records common in California?
California averages about 21 rip current and surf records a year since 2000, 3rd of 34 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1998 (54). Per 10,000 square miles of land, California records 44 rip current and surf records since 1996, 8th of 34 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in California have the most rip current and surf records?
Per square mile, Santa Cruz County leads California: 67 days with a rip current or surf record since 1996, 150.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, San Diego County has the most surf records (150 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the surf season in California?
California's rip current and surf records by month. The busiest month is January (147 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 147 · Feb 87 · Mar 40 · Apr 23 · May 37 · Jun 39 · Jul 34 · Aug 29 · Sep 25 · Oct 40 · Nov 64 · Dec 115 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest rip current and surf records in California?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-07-14 | High SurfMarin County and Sonoma County · forecast zone Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore A 24-foot motorized fishing boat capsized in the six to eight foot surf about one mile offshore of Ten Mile Beach, also known as The Great Beach, north of Point Reyes. The four fishermen aboard lost their lives as they were thrown into the frigid water. None of them were wearing life vests. Also, the boat was totally ... | 4 | 0 | $27K | |
| 2024-12-23 | High SurfMonterey County · forecast zone Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast One storm episode: 4 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Long duration high surf caused damage across Monterey Bay and resulted in numerous attempted water rescues on December 23. Around 1244 PST, around 150 feet of the Santa Cruz wharf collapsed and fell into Monterey Bay. Prior to 1300 PST, wave heights at buoy 46284 were building to around 18.7 feet with a dominant ... | 3 | 3 | $9 | |
| 2009-11-26 | High SurfMarin County and Sonoma County · forecast zone Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2009-11-26 to 2009-11-27; the totals are the episode's. Large swells began to affect the coast on Thanksgiving Day causing the surf to increase through Saturday. Wave heights at the beaches of 14 to 18 feet accompany these large swells. | 3 | 0 | $83K | |
| 2021-01-03 | High SurfMarin County and Sonoma County · forecast zone Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore A family of four was pulled into the ocean at Blind Beach in Sonoma County while playing near the water by a large wave. The mother was able to get out, but the father and two children did not make it https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/father-drowns-trying-to-save-his-children-at-sonoma-county-beach/. | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 2007-12-03 | High SurfSan Mateo County and Santa Cruz County · forecast zone San Francisco Peninsula Coast One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. During a 4 day period from December 2nd through December 5th, 2007 - high surf battered the coast of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas with wave heights up to 25 feet. Two separate accidents resulted in the deaths of three people. | 3 | 0 | $114K | |
| 2004-06-07 | High SurfDel Norte County and 2 more · forecast zone North Coast Interior Between 8 am and 7 pm a boat was sunk after being struck by a series of waves. The nearest buoy (46027) reported wave heights of 6.9 to 8.5 feet at 11 seconds. One female survivor swam to a near by off shore rock and spent the night. | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 2000-03-25 | Rip CurrentShelter Cove, Humboldt County A school group from Calgary, Alberta was visiting Black Sands Beach near Shelter Cove. A rogue wave swept the female victim out to sea. Four other members of the group attempted a rescue but were overcome by waves and currents. Two were later rescued by a fishing vessel and the Coast Guard. Two teenage boys were not ... | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 2010-07-03 | High SurfMonterey County · forecast zone Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast As many as ten people at Monastery Beach, south of Carmel, were caught by surprise as a sneaker wave washed them from the beach into the ocean. A Good Samaritan decided to help with the rescue and died after pulling at least one person to safety. Another beachgoer succumbed to injuries and died the next day. Five ... | 2 | 5 | – | |
| 2000-08-15 | High SurfSan Luis Obispo County · forecast zone X W San Luis Obispo Strong northwest winds of 20 to 30 mph produced locally rough seas in Morro Bay. One wave flipped a boat, throwing five adults and two children into the water. Unfortunately, both children drowned. | 2 | 5 | – | |
| 1999-01-03 | Rip CurrentHollywood By The Sea, Ventura County Gusty Santa Ana winds fueled a brush fire in the San Fernando Valley, north of Granada Hills. Over 600 acres of land was burned, but no injuries or property damage was reported. The Santa Ana winds also produced deadly rip currents across the Southern California coastal waters. In the Channel Islands Harbour, four ... | 2 | 4 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest rip current and surf records in California
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-08-26 | High SurfLos Angeles County · forecast zone Los Angeles County Coasts Including Downtown Los Angeles | 0 | 1 | $50M | |
| 2011-03-11 | TsunamiSanta Cruz County · forecast zone Northern Monterey Bay One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $37M | |
| 2010-01-20 | High SurfSan Francisco County · forecast zone San Francisco One storm episode: 3 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $27M | |
| 2006-11-15 | TsunamiDel Norte County and Humboldt County · forecast zone Redwood Coast | 0 | 0 | $13M | |
| 2016-12-14 | High SurfDel Norte County · forecast zone Coastal Del Norte | 0 | 0 | $10M | |
| 2022-01-15 | TsunamiSanta Cruz County · forecast zone Northern Monterey Bay One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $9.6M | |
| 2011-03-11 | TsunamiDel Norte County and Humboldt County · forecast zone Redwood Coast One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $9.2M | |
| 2025-07-30 | TsunamiDel Norte County · forecast zone Coastal Del Norte | 0 | 0 | $1.0M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are rip current and surf records becoming more frequent in California?
California's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | California | United States | California's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 129 | 1,021 | 12.6% |
| 2000s | 163 | 4,386 | 3.7% |
| 2010s | 251 | 5,810 | 4.3% |
| 2020-26 | 137 | 2,346 | 5.8% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent rip current and surf records in California
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-18 | High SurfSan Francisco County · forecast zone San Francisco | 0 | 2 | – | |
| 2026-06-16 | High SurfSan Mateo County and Santa Cruz County · forecast zone San Francisco Peninsula Coast | 0 | 1 | – | |
| 2026-06-10 | High SurfSanta Cruz County · forecast zone Northern Monterey Bay | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-29 | SneakerwaveSan Francisco County · forecast zone San Francisco | 0 | 1 | – | |
| 2026-05-16 | High SurfMonterey County · forecast zone Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-01 | High SurfMonterey County · forecast zone Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-06 | High SurfSanta Cruz County · forecast zone Northern Monterey Bay | 0 | 6 | – | |
| 2026-02-06 | High SurfSanta Cruz County · forecast zone Northern Monterey Bay | 0 | 2 | – | |
| 2026-01-03 | High SurfSan Mateo County and Santa Cruz County · forecast zone San Francisco Peninsula Coast | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-01-02 | High SurfSanta Cruz County · forecast zone Northern Monterey Bay | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-12-03 | SneakerwaveSan Mateo County and Santa Cruz County · forecast zone San Francisco Peninsula Coast | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-11-22 | High SurfMonterey County · forecast zone Southern Monterey Bay And Big Sur Coast | 1 | 2 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for rip current and surf records in California
FEMA has declared 2 disasters in California for rip current and surf, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on February 9, 1983.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983-02-09 | DR-677 | Coastal Storms, Floods, Slides & Tornadoes | 40 |
| 1980-02-01 | EM-3078 | Torrential Rain, High Tide & Winds | 3 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Santa Cruz County: the county's whole recordThe California county with the most rip current and surf records per square mile
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