The National Weather Service issued high surf advisories Thursday morning for large portions Northern California, with waves up to 30 feet high expected to hit portions of the coast until Sunday.

An increasingly ferocious and volatile surf is raising questions about the future of the state’s piers, which have defined the coastline for generations.

At least one person died after massive waves battered Northern California's coast on Monday. A man was trapped by debris that washed up on a beach in Santa Cruz, authorities said. The man was rescued and taken to the hospital where he later died.

A powerful storm pummeling the West Coast churned up waves as high as 60 feet, killing one man, sweeping another out to sea and prompting multiple rescues when a pier collapsed in Santa Cruz, California,

Waves up to 30 feet high were expected to crash ashore in Northern California between Thursday morning and Sunday afternoon.