And I thought the surf was big when I was in San Clemente a couple weeks ago. Here are my two best shots of that weekend, the first taken at sunset at our local break, Poche Beach, the biggest, most consistent outside swell I’ve ever seen there. (That’s Catalina in the background.) The second is a shot I grabbed at a very crowded Upper Trestles, just a few miles south of us.

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Then today (December 22), KABC-TV in LA reported that a high surf advisory was in effect along the SoCal coast for the second consecutive day, with waves of up to 12 feet expected. The station said piers were closed in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach yesterday, and it was unclear if they would be reopened today. Authorities warned that the rip-current potential was high, and conditions were expected to be dangerous. They advised beachgoers to stay out of the water and off exposed rocks, jetties, and piers.

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The last three shots shown here are copyright KABC-TV. For more reading, see this LA Times story.