UPDATE: Tsunami Advisory Canceled for San Diego Beaches

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A tsunami warning for San Diego County beaches was canceled today after an underwater volcano erupted in the South Pacific.

The advisory was canceled at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS San Diego office reported at 12:32 p.m. that San Diego had 1.4-foot waves and La Jolla had .6 feet. The highest tsunami coastal observations in California were in Port San Luis, with 4.3 feet reported.

``Seeing some surges on the Port San Luis tsunami gauge. Reporting up to a 24 cm residual so far. That's 9.4 inches or about 19 inches from the

bottom and top of the residual,'' the National Weather Service's Los Angeles office tweeted at 8:08 a.m.

Waves capable of producing strong currents hazardous to swimmers, boats, and coastal structures were expected to arrive starting at 7:50 a.m.

Wave heights of 1 to 2 feet were expected.

The NWS said at 7:05 a.m. that there were ``no significant concerns about inundation.''

The warning was issued for Alaska, Hawaii and the entire West Coast, though the warning for Hawaii was later canceled.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, near Tonga, erupted late Friday. A tsunami hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, according to CNN,

which reported that waves were flooding the capital.

No evacuation orders were in place in San Diego County. Seismologist Lucy Jones, founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, said the expected short-term increase of 1-3 feet in sea level would only be an issue near the beach.

``Tsunamis are not one wave. It's more like sloshing and that sloshing can continue for a day. Just because the first wave has passed, it is not

time to go see the beach,'' Jones tweeted.

Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.

CNS-01-15-2022 13:53



The Tsunami warning has been cancelled.

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Tsunami waves generated from the underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga were expected to impact the San Diego County coast this morning, which also received a band of light rain, the National Weather Service said.

``Widespread inundation is not expected,'' forecasters said.

``However, a tsunami capable of producing strong currents that may be hazardous to swimmers, boats, and coastal structures is expected.''

No evacuation orders were in place in San Diego County.

A high surf advisory was issued until 2 p.m. Saturday for San Diego

County coastal areas. A west swell of 4 feet at 14 15 seconds was expected to produce elevated to high surf Saturday. Surf of 4-7 feet was expected. Moderate to strong rip currents were predicted at all beaches.

A band of light rain due was slowly moving north and covered most of western San Diego County, with most areas receiving a few hundredths of an inch of precipitation.

There were also locally gusty easterly winds from the coastal mountain slopes west into some of the valleys, with a local gust of 60 mph at Hellhole Canyon at around 6 a.m., and a few other stations with gusts over 50 mph.

High temperatures along the coast Saturday were predicted to be 67-72 degrees with overnight lows of 50-55. Western valley highs will be 67-72, with highs of 61-66 near the foothills and overnight lows of 49-55. Mountain highs

were expected to be 53-59 with overnight lows of 40-47. Highs in the deserts will be 68-73 with overnight lows of 46-55.

Light showers were also possible Monday evening through Tuesday morning, forecasters said.

A gradual cooling trend was forecast to occur through early next week, followed by warmer weather late in the week as a ridge of high pressure develops.

Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.