Though Newport Beach lifeguards reopened the remaining beaches that had been closed following Sunday afternoon’s shark attack off Corona del Mar, they warn that another possibly deadly danger lurks.
High surf.
The National Weather Service has a high surf advisory in place through 10 p.m. Thursday.
“Current beach conditions include high surf with the presence of rip currents, sets are a consistent three to four feet with some sets of up to eight feet,” says Mary Locey, the City of Newport Beach’s public information officer. “Ocean visitors are encouraged to check with a lifeguard before entering the water.”
Stronger surf is predicted to pound the Los Angeles County coast more heavily than Orange County’s, the NWS says.
Compounding matters are unseasonably high temperatures Friday and Saturday that will likely send inland folks to our beaches for relief. Highs of 100 degrees in Southern California’s inland valleys and 90 degrees in inland Orange County are forecast, according to the NWS.
That has first responders on edge not only due to coastal conditions, but concerns about dry brush in SoCal’s foothill and mountain tinderboxes.
Despite no unusual shark activity having been noticed since a bite was taken out of Corona’s Maria Korcsmaros, lifeguards and a Huntington Beach Police helicopter will keep monitoring the coastline, Locey says.
The condition of Korcsmaros, a 52-year-old triathlete and fitness instructor, has stabilized and she is talking, according to Orange County Global Medical Center officials in Santa Ana.
She will likely remain in the hospital for another week, says Dr. Humberto Sauri, one of the physicians treating her.
