Video: Woman knocked down by monster wave during Bay Area king tides

(KRON) — A woman was knocked off her feet by a towering wave south of the Pacifica Municipal Pier Thursday as king tides and 14 to 25-foot breakers pummeled the Bay Area coastline, video sent in by a KRON4 viewer shows.

The National Weather Service warned the public to stay off jetties, piers and and waterside infrastructure between Thursday and Saturday morning amid the dangerous beach conditions. 

There was also an increased risk of sneaker waves this week. The NWS website describes sneaker waves as “potentially deadly waves that surge further up the beach than expected, overtaking the unaware.”

It’s unclear if the wave that hit the woman was a sneaker wave. Sneaker waves can occur at any time and the NWS strongly advises that people never turn their back on the ocean.

“The volume of sand, water, and gravel they carry will deposit in an individuals’ clothes,” the NWS warns. “Survivors have described the water-sand mix in their clothes as feeling as heavy as concrete, rendering them incapable of escaping the receding waves pulling them into the ocean. Stay off and well clear of large logs and debris fields that are anywhere near the surf line or below the high water marks. Sneaker waves can run up on the beach, lifting or rolling these extremely heavy water soaked logs on the beach. People have been injured and even crushed by being caught under these logs from sneaker wave action on the beach.”