Big northwest swell and high tides threaten west-facing Malibu beaches Play

Waves are big in Malibu Friday morning, and will be very big by Monday, when the highest lunar tides also arrive. But the surf this time is coming from a different direction than what we had earlier this fall.

The high tide cycle is building each morning. High tide Friday was 7.1 feet just before 7 a.m. Saturday's high tide will be 7.3 feet at 7:22 a.m., and Sunday will have a high tide of 7.4 feet at around 7:48 a.m. High tides continue Monday and Tuesday.

The swell is coming from the northwest, around Point Conception. The National Weather Service says the high tides will not be nearly as damaging as the record-breaking tides from last week, because the swell is coming down the coast from the west rather than blasting straight ashore from the south like last month's hurricane waves.

That means hard-hit areas on the south-facing beaches of Malibu will get a bit of a break, but beaches with western exposure — including Point Dume and westward — have a much higher risk for damage than in the recent past.

We could see some coastal damage Monday and Tuesday.