With a high surf advisory in place through Sunday, swimming is strongly discouraged at San Francisco's Ocean Beach due to dangerous rip currents, fire officials said Thursday morning.
While wading to knee level is allowed, beachgoers are asked to exercise extreme caution, as people have been swept out to sea in as little as three feet of water, disappearing in seconds, the San Francisco Fire Department said.
The National Weather Service Wednesday predicted that the greater Bay Area coast could see large breaking waves between 20 and 30 feet beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday and ending at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Swimming and surfing conditions will be considered dangerous, the weather service said.
Rip currents are the number one risk at most beaches and anyone finding themselves in a rip current should not fight the current, but swim parallel to shore and then in toward the beach, the fire department said.
Pets should be kept leashed, and beachgoers should not swim after a pet if it is swept into the sea. Most dogs will get out of the water on their own, only to watch their handler get rescued, according to the fire department.
In high surf conditions, waves can seem to come out of nowhere and sweep across the beach, pulling people into the ocean from rocks, jetties and beaches, the weather service said.
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