Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2012

Rip Current Statement 17, NWS Tallahassee, FL

July 21, 2012Bay County, Walton County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this rip current statement at Jul 21, 2012, 1:19 PM CDT for Bay County, Walton County, Florida. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 21, 2012, 1:19 PM CDT (18:19 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 2012, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL

Counties Bay County, FL, Walton County, FL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:22 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 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 154 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 540 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
540 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
965 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
62 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.

535 
WHUS42 KTAE 211819
CFWTAE

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
219 PM EDT SAT JUL 21 2012

...DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS REPORTED IN BAY AND WALTON COUNTIES...

.BEACH SAFETY OFFICIALS HAVE REPORTED DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS AND
NUMEROUS RESCUES ALONG THE BEACHES OF BAY AND WALTON COUNTIES SO
FAR TODAY. THEREFORE...THE PREVIOUS MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS
HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A HIGH RISK FOR THE BEACHES ALONG WALTON AND
BAY COUNTIES. PANAMA CITY BEACH WAS FLYING DOUBLE RED FLAGS AS OF
1 PM CDT SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

FLZ108-112-220300-
/O.NEW.KTAE.RP.S.0017.120721T1819Z-120722T0300Z/
SOUTH WALTON-COASTAL BAY-
119 PM CDT SAT JUL 21 2012

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A HIGH RIP
CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING. 

* SURF...BREAKERS OF 2 TO 3 FEET.

* TIMING...WINDS SHOULD BECOME MORE EASTERLY AND DECREASE SLIGHTLY
  TONIGHT WHICH SHOULD ALLOW THE RIP CURRENT RISK TO DECREASE LATE
  THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. 

* IMPACTS...DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS WILL CREATE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS
  CONDITIONS FOR ANYONE ENTERING THE WATER. BEACHGOERS ARE URGED
  TO FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF LOCAL BEACH PATROLS.

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. 

&&

$$

08/17

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 3:37 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementTAELafayette23 min
Jul 21, 3:59 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementTAELafayette31 min

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 2012Every rip current statement in 2012

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.