Sneaker Wave Nearly Washes People on the Beach Out to Sea

While people on the east coast were digging out from Winter Storm Jonas, a dangerous sneaker wave in Oregon sent people on the beach scrambling for safety.

Steve Raplee was recording the waves on the the beach near Coos Bay, Oregon when he was surprised by a sneaker wave.

Luckily, Raplee and other people on the beach got to higher ground and safety before the sneaker wave knocked them down and drug them into the ocean.

Because a sneaker wave is both unpredictable and so much larger than the waves preceding it, the wave can often catch people by surprise as evidenced by this video.

In the US, these waves are most common along the northern California, Oregon and Washington coastlines. There have been reports of both swimmers and people on the beach being washed out to sea by these sometimes deadly waves.