Newport Beach — High surf on Friday continued to pound the Wedge, a prime surfing spot off the coast of Newport Beach, challenging surfers and body boarders.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40775

0

Newport Beach — A body boarder goes upside-down through the top of a wave at the Wedge on Friday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40776

1

Newport Beach — As high surf continues at the Wedge on Friday, a body boarder gets some air time when he catapults over the top of a wave.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40777

2

Newport Beach — A surfer (minus his surfboard) goes flying.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40778

3

Newport Beach — A body boarder holds on tightly to his board at the Wedge.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40779

4

Newport Beach — Body boarders sprint down one of the big waves pounding the Wedge.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40780

5

Newport Beach — A body-surfer finds himself in the grip of a huge wave Thursday at the Wedge, where breakers measuring up to 15 feet or higher pounded the shore.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40654

6

Huntington Beach — A surfer is flipped off his board near the Huntington Beach Pier.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40648

7

Huntington Beach — Much to the delight of surfers at Huntington Beach, a storm near Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand is creating a strong southwest swell that is hitting the Southern California coast.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40646

8

Huntington Beach — Taking advantage of a strong swell, a surfer executes an aerial maneuver near the Huntington Beach Pier.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40649

9

Newport Beach — A crowd watches big surf wash ashore at the Wedge in Newport Beach.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40661

10

Sunset Beach — A surfer at Sunset Beach bails out while riding one of the big waves.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40650

11

Newport Beach — A bodysurfer negotiates a huge wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40655

12

Newport Beach — A surfer thinks twice about catching a huge wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40657

13

Newport Beach — Surf washes around a crowd and erodes the beach Thursday at the Wedge in Newport Beach.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40659

14

Newport Beach — A bodysurfer ducks out of a huge wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40658

15

Newport Beach — Pounding surf erodes the beach at the Wedge in Newport Beach, where waves measuring up to 15 feet or more were common throughout the day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40660

16

Huntington Beach — A storm near Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand is creating a strong southwest swell that is hitting the Southern California coast.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40647

17

Oceanside — A police officer and pedestrians take quick steps back as a wave crashes over Strand Way in Oceanside. The portion of the popular oceanfront street was closed after a pedestrian walking through puddles reported being shocked.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40667

18

Oceanside — Huge waves scour the beach along Strand Way just south of the Oceanside Pier.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40668

19

Oceanside — Visitors to the Oceanside Pier take in the big waves that have been pounding Southern California beaches.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40669

20

Oceanside — Breaking waves splash as high as the railing of the Oceanside Pier.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40670

21

Huntington Beach — High waves crash underneath the Huntington Beach Pier while visitors watch from a safe distance,

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40703

22

Malibu — The picnic grounds at Thornhill Broome Beach State Park in Malibu are inundated when the swell combined with a 6-foot high tide around noon on Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40704

23

Malibu — A powerful Southern Hemisphere swell pounded Southern California beaches Thursday. Houses, precariously perched at land's edge, had front-row seats to the swell's power.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=40705

24