Rip Current Forecast

"Don't fight, swim left to right." An easy slogan to remember what you should do if you ever get caught in a rip current!
Gary Beeler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service says, "it's not even close, rip currents kill more people than lightning, flash floods, tornadoes, hurricanes in our area."

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service are in contact with local lifeguards everyday. They forecast the rip current threat through the spring and summer. The forecast generally ceases toward the end of October when lifeguards are no long out on the beach.

These meteorologists look at tides, wind direction and speed, and wave periods.
Don Shepherd with the National Weather Service says, "You never really know where a rip current is going to occur, you just know when the conditions are favorable for them to occur."

When tropical storms and hurricanes move into the Gulf, swells are generated outward and the rip current threat increases.
Beeler says, "A lot of time a swell from a storm will be coming from one direction and the winds will be coming from another direction, so that creates more of a hazard in rip currents."

Even though there are signs on the beach and flags explaining every type of water threat, people still panic when they try to fight the current. "Let the rip current take you wherever it's going to take you. it pulls you out, it doesn't pull you under. By all means, obey the flags. I know they are paying a lot of money to be in the condos, but it's better to stay out of the water if the flags are red or double red."

Beeler adds, "About 70% of people who drown are from out of town, they're tourists. A lot of them that drown actually are trying to save someone else."

If you see someone struggling in the water, don't go in after them empty handed, find something that floats! "If they're really in distress and think they will drown, if you swim out there to help them, they're going to stand on top of you to get out of the water."

If you’d like to check out the National Weather Service Rip Current Forecast, check out this link: Rip Current Forecast.