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Your tornado was certainly a bigger deal than the down current I originally thot about. What a ride. 
Down Current in San Diego
- Thread starter Oside Jimc
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Skull
Contributor
I read the article the other day. About 10 days ago I was south of Valecitos Point pretty much at the place where ya'll ran into this event ... a little to my south was a large cloud of sand pouring over the wall @ ~55 fsw right at the head of the canyon's southern draw. I was a bit north and turned the dive since I thought it was either bat rays beating the hell out of the wall or just a few newbies kicking up some desert... man good thing in hind site since the surf was kicking up and the tide was heading out.
Hey BTW really the worst case is you get pushed out into the swimming lanes or get pushed over to the shallows of the cove .. then a long surface swim to the kayak area... no? I suppose you could get sucked down into the canyon but man that would take one hell of alot of water entering the La Jolla Bay ... mostly slack tides with little movement and stable surf conditions this time of year...relatively speaking of course.
Finally must of been one heck of a event since that area is usually incredibly stable this time of year... kudos on the heads up diving skills!
Hey BTW really the worst case is you get pushed out into the swimming lanes or get pushed over to the shallows of the cove .. then a long surface swim to the kayak area... no? I suppose you could get sucked down into the canyon but man that would take one hell of alot of water entering the La Jolla Bay ... mostly slack tides with little movement and stable surf conditions this time of year...relatively speaking of course.
Finally must of been one heck of a event since that area is usually incredibly stable this time of year... kudos on the heads up diving skills!
"Neptune had an attitude this morning," said Virginia Hatter, one of the six divers who were doing underwater photography along a canyon wall when they were gripped by a phenomenon they'll never forget.
Did any of the six of you get a picture of the swirling cloud as it approached you? That would be cool to see!
I'm glad you all came out of it okay and with a great story too!
Did any of the six of you get a picture of the swirling cloud as it approached you? That would be cool to see!
I'm glad you all came out of it okay and with a great story too!
Just a thought; could this phenomenon be an underwater analog to the "dust devils" we have here in the desert?
I've seen descriptions of how they start, and the essence is something to the effect of an odd thermal effect that causes a horizontal swirling, which eventually transitions to a vertical swirling as it travels.
Most dust devils remain small and harmless, but some get large enough to actually do some damage. Since the movement of air and water are both determined by fluid dynamics, I would imagine that comparable circumstances in water could result in a similar effect.
It'd be great to get one of those Scripps folks here to comment, even if it's to tell me I'm way off base on that.
I've seen descriptions of how they start, and the essence is something to the effect of an odd thermal effect that causes a horizontal swirling, which eventually transitions to a vertical swirling as it travels.
Most dust devils remain small and harmless, but some get large enough to actually do some damage. Since the movement of air and water are both determined by fluid dynamics, I would imagine that comparable circumstances in water could result in a similar effect.
It'd be great to get one of those Scripps folks here to comment, even if it's to tell me I'm way off base on that.
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Another possible connection?
avw
Guest
This morning, we just had a small 4.0 earthquake about 20 miles off the coast of La Jolla:
Recent Earthquakes - Info for event ci10437169
I live about 3 miles from La Jolla Shores on the fourth floor and it woke me up when the dresser creaked a little and the bed shook a little too. Nothing scary, I fell right back to sleep.
I'm no geologist, but I'd speculate that our weird currents were a preview of this little quake.
Recent Earthquakes - Info for event ci10437169
I live about 3 miles from La Jolla Shores on the fourth floor and it woke me up when the dresser creaked a little and the bed shook a little too. Nothing scary, I fell right back to sleep.
I'm no geologist, but I'd speculate that our weird currents were a preview of this little quake.
Skull
Contributor
More plausible is a large rip exiting the beach south of the Marine Room ..caused by westward surf (I believe that was Scripps analysis)... or it could be a downed alien craft which dove into the canyon hit bottom and caused a few after shocks ... sucking all the water with it..
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