OC surfers hoping for monster waves from Pacific hurricane

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Orange County surfers were gathering Tuesday at the world-famous Wedge in Newport Beach, hoping for monster waves generated by a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean.

Tuesday morning, they didn't see the 8-10 foot waves they were expecting, but some surf watchers say there's still a chance by late afternoon or evening.

Hurricane Eugene, now a tropical storm, was expected to push a new south swell into the area this week. The storm had been graded a Category 3 hurricane when it was about 550 miles west-southwest of Baja before it weakened into a storm, according to AccuWeather.

Surfers crowded the water at the Wedge, but as of Tuesday morning they were still waiting.

That didn't stop them from enjoying themselves on a beautiful day anyway, as they continued to hope the swell would build up later in the day.

"We had a good time," said surfer Matt Carvalho of Aliso Viejo. "It's a little smaller than we thought, but good enough to have some fun."