High surf warning closes some beaches in California

CARLSBAD, Calif. (NBC, KYMA) - Severe erosion and high surf have stripped away much of the sand at Tamarack State Beach in Carlsbad, creating hazards for surfers and swimmers.

The Pacific is pounding the Carlsbad coastline at Tamarack State Beach this Labor Day weekend.

There isn't much left of the sand as it is slipping away. So much so that Danielle Skari struggled to find a way out of the water after surfing the high swells.

"The whole bottom of the beach is missing...It was kind of hard for me to swim against the current...almost got hurt...swam into the rocks..and almost hit my head there," Skari shared.

Slippery tons of rocks still separate the waves from the nearby parking lot, but barely. The lot was closed by park rangers less than a week ago. As it became obvious, the water was winning as land eroded like never before.

Ken Bykowski just arrived from Arizona for his annual vacation. Like thousands of other visitors this weekend, he was shocked.

"I've never noticed it as stark as it is now…that beach is totally gone. It's never been like that," Bykowski expressed.

There's no timetable on when this parking lot might reopen, but the ocean is going to do what the ocean does, and experts, like Pat Abbott, a geology professor at San Diego State University, said it's natural.

The severe erosion, he said, was triggered by churning ocean storms this summer, and humans warming up the planet.

"Sea level is rising because the planet is hotter…and that means a lot of the things that were unusual to us…like what's happening here…are going to become much more commonplace," Abbott explained.

Perched above the crashing waves along Carlsbad Boulevard is Vigilucci's Seafood and Steakhouse, which has been there 30 years with a perfect view of what some call the perfect beach.

Roberto Vigilucci, the restaurant's owner, has seen a lot in that time.

"This is gone…the waves were huge this summer…I'm not a surfer, but wow," Vigilucci spoke. "I have a lot of my guys that work for me that are surfers…I mean…this is a popular spot."

While the California Parks Department figures out what to do next, researchers with UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography plan to be back in Carlsbad next week to dig a little deeper into the science happening right now in real time.

Hurricane Marie is churning in the Pacific off the coast right now. That storm is not expected to make landfall in California ,but will keep high surf warnings in effect.