Waves driven by Hurricane Rachel are expected to pound Encinitas-area beaches starting Wednesday, Oct. 7, raising the risk of coastal erosion along bluffs that collapsed in September.

The National Weather Service issued a Beach Hazards Statement covering San Diego and Orange county coastlines from Tuesday afternoon through Friday, Oct. 9. A separate Coastal Flood Advisory takes effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday and runs through 11 a.m. Friday, according to Fox 5 San Diego.

Surf is forecast to reach three to five feet Wednesday morning, with sets up to six feet on south- and southwest-facing beaches, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. High tides could peak near seven feet during morning and evening hours, amplifying the wave energy's reach up the shoreline.

"Rachel is going to be bringing the potential for beach erosion and powerful rip currents that could be deadly potentially," National Weather Service meteorologist Dr. Ariel Cohen told KTLA. "That's why you have to follow the direction of lifeguards very closely."

The storm is not expected to make landfall. As of Tuesday, Rachel was spinning roughly 500 miles off the coast of Mexico, but its swell energy is traveling north toward the Southern California coast, the NWS said.

NWS meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld said Rachel's swell could be stronger than what Hurricane Polo delivered in late September because Rachel is tracking farther west in the Pacific, giving waves a more direct path to shore, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Encinitas beaches face particular vulnerability. A bluff collapse on Sept. 18 near Grandview Street and Neptune Avenue forced the city to close Grandview Beach access within 300 feet of the staircase, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Adam Young, a coastal geomorphologist at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, called that failure one of the largest San Diego had seen in 2026. The collapse occurred near the same spot where three people died in a 2019 bluff failure.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a beach nourishment project in May 2024, placing about 347,000 cubic yards of sand along 1.5 miles of Encinitas shoreline between Swami's and Beacon's Beach, according to city records.

An extreme heat warning already in effect across much of San Diego County is expected to push more people toward the coast, compounding the hazard. Ocean temperatures near San Diego are running 73 to 75 degrees, well above the typical 65 to 70 for early October, the Union-Tribune reported.

The NWS warned that elevated surf frequently produces strong rip currents capable of dragging swimmers away from shore. The agency advised beachgoers to swim only near a lifeguard.

Even after the advisories expire, tides are expected to remain near seven feet on Saturday, Oct. 10, with swells continuing into early next week, according to KTLA. Residents can sign up for emergency alerts through San Diego County's El Niño 2026 hub at AlertSanDiego.org.