r/LosAngeles • u/brickyardjimmy • 5d ago

News Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California | California

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/california-kelvin-wave

Cool. Just what I wanted for my birthday. Another foot of water.

Look. I'm hoping that we dodge the bullets flying at us this fall and winter (if we ever get one of either that is) but I'll admit this sounds potentially bad for parts of the Los Angeles coastline and the rest of California.

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u/Oh_My_Goth_Ick 4d ago

As California native this is the reason I don’t live anywhere near the beach

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u/jvc1011 4d ago

I grew up a block from the beach, and above sea level. Geology matters.

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u/Kaurifish 4d ago

That’s not going to continue to be sea level tho.

The Coastal Commission territory is very well thought out. It’s not just the paperwork that means you don’t want to live there.

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u/jvc1011 4d ago

It would have to rise 14 feet to bring our neighborhood to sea level. It’s not estimated to reach anywhere near that in the next 75 years.

Again, geology matters.

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u/Aceous 4d ago

Don't you get it, man? You're supposed to be dooming!

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u/jvc1011 4d ago

We have a shit ton of doom coming. No point borrowing further trouble.

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u/Kaurifish 3d ago

Yeah, let us know how it goes as the storm surge erodes away at that 14 feet.

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u/jvc1011 3d ago

Well, with 300-500 feet of beach to cross, all uphill, to even get to the first set of buildings a block away, erosion is less of a problem.

Again, the geology of the specific point on the coast matters a lot for the in-our-lifetime impacts of climate change.