May 2016 (ROTM#89) Imperial Beach, San Diego, USA

This picture was sent to me by Clayton Jones, an ex-pat Australian living in San Diego and it shows the north end of Imperial Beach, San Diego after 4 months of El Nino weather and surf conditions. I'm not sure of the effect that El Nino has on west coast US beaches, but here on the East Coast of Australia, it tends to result in less storm waves and a lot of sand coming back to the beach.

From the looks of this photo, something similar may happen in San Diego. Generally when a lot of sand comes back to the beach, rip channels become more frequent and well established. There's plenty of dark gaps indicating the location of multiple rips. Most of all, there are two strong rips either side of the rock groyne. Another good reason why you should never swim near fixed structures on beaches (piers, jetties). Water flows along the beach, hits the structure and gets deflected offshore. Conditions like this make it difficult for lifeguards and for swimmers alike!

By the way Clay runs a YMCA surf camp for kids in San Diego. Looks like a great venture 

Always a bad idea to swim next to a groyne