High winds whip up the waves

The National Weather Service has issued a high-wind advisory for Orange County coastal areas.

Strong offshore flows are predicted to cause gusty Santa Ana winds at about 10 mph with occasional 20 mph gusts, forecasters said.

Surfline.com forecaster say the west-northwest winds brought in fair conditions to the local breaks. Most swells are hitting at 3-to-4 feet (waist to chest high) with occasional 5-foot swells, forecasters said.

Swells are expected to drop slightly by Tuesday, coming in knee to chest high with intermittent 4-foot swells.

The high surf is predicted to cause strong rip currents, although in Newport Beach lifeguards reported much smaller specs on the breaks along the Balboa Peninsula.

In front of Newport Beach lifeguard headquarters, the surf was flat for the most part, “roadblocked” from any significant swells by Catalina Island, Lifeguard Capt. Boyd Mickley said. Swells didn’t get much higher than between 1-to-2 feet.

Some decent rip currents were present, but they almost always are in Newport Beach, Mickley said.

“If the surf hits at an angle along the shoreline, it keeps moving down until it finds a way back out and that’s when you get the rip current,” Mickley said.

Smaller surf will continue into the week as the old west northwest winds slacken and swells come in more from the south, according to Surfline.com.