Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2011

Rip Current Statement 18, NWS Tallahassee, FL

December 20, 2011Bay County, Gulf County, Walton County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this rip current statement at Dec 20, 2011, 3:44 AM CST for Bay County, Gulf County, Walton County, Florida. It was in force for 20 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Dec 20, 2011, 3:44 AM CST (09:44 UTC)
Expired: Dec 21, 2011, 12:00 AM CST
In force: 20 hr
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL

Counties Bay County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Walton County, FL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:43 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 134 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1233 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 148 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

786 
WHUS42 KTAE 200944
CFWTAE

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
444 AM EST TUE DEC 20 2011

...A HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT FOR
THE BEACHES OF WALTON...BAY...AND GULF COUNTIES...

.STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL GENERATE MODERATE SURF OF 3 TO 5 FEET
ALONG THE BEACHES OF WALTON..BAY...AND GULF COUNTIES THROUGH
TONIGHT. THIS WILL ALSO CREATE A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS.

FLZ108-112-114-210600-
/O.NEW.KTAE.RP.S.0018.111220T0944Z-111221T0600Z/
SOUTH WALTON-COASTAL BAY-COASTAL GULF-
444 AM EST TUE DEC 20 2011 /344 AM CST TUE DEC 20 2011/

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...

* WAVES AND SURF...3 TO 5 FEET WITH A FEW SETS APPROACHING 6 FEET
  ALONG THE WALTON COUNTY COAST.

* TIMING...THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS...STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL CREATE MODERATE SURF
  HEIGHTS AND A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. RIP CURRENTS ARE POWERFUL
CHANNELS OF WATER FLOWING QUICKLY AWAY FROM SHORE...WHICH OCCUR
MOST OFTEN AT LOW SPOTS OR BREAKS IN THE SANDBAR AND IN THE
VICINITY OF STRUCTURES SUCH AS GROINS...JETTIES AND PIERS. HEED
THE ADVICE OF LIFEGUARDS AND THE BEACH PATROL. PAY ATTENTION TO
FLAGS AND POSTED SIGNS. IF YOU BECOME CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...
DO NOT PANIC. REMAIN CALM AND BEGIN TO SWIM PARALLEL TO SHORE.
ONCE YOU ARE AWAY FROM THE FORCE OF THE RIP CURRENT...BEGIN TO
SWIM BACK TO THE BEACH. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A
RIP CURRENT. EVEN A STRONG SWIMMER CAN BECOME EXHAUSTED QUICKLY. 

&&

$$

DVD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 20, 2:59 AM CST	Small Craft Advisory	TAE		41 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 2011 Every rip current statement in 2011

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.