Alert archive / North Carolina / Rip Current Statements in 2013

Rip Current Statement 7, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 3, 2013Brunswick County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this rip current statement at Jul 3, 2013, 5:03 PM EDT for Brunswick County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 2013, 5:03 PM EDT (21:03 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 2013, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC

County Brunswick County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 19 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:04 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2013-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2034 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2013-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
2034 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 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.

159 
WHUS42 KILM 032103
CFWILM

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
503 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2013

...HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT BRUNSWICK COUNTY BEACHES FOR THE
REST OF TODAY...

.ONE CONFIRMED RIP CURRENT DROWNING AT OCEAN ISLE BEACH TODAY
ALONG WITH NUMEROUS RIP RESCUES ACROSS BRUNSWICK COUNTY.

NCZ110-040000-
/O.NEW.KILM.RP.S.0007.130703T2103Z-130704T0000Z/
COASTAL BRUNSWICK-
503 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2013

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A HIGH RIP
CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

* RIP CURRENT RISK...STRONG RIP CURRENTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN
  BRUNSWICK COUNTY TODAY WITH NUMEROUS RESCUES AND ONE CONFIRMED
  RIP-RELATED DROWNING. WIND AND WAVE CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO
  SUPPORT HIGH RIP CURRENT ACTIVITY FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

* WIND AND WAVES...SWELLS OF 4 TO 5 FEET AT 7 SECONDS COMBINED
  WITH STRONG AND PERSISTENT ONSHORE FLOW ARE PRODUCING FAVORABLE
  CONDITIONS FOR STRONG 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.

&&

$$

12

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 8:15 AM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson90 min
Jul 3, 9:38 AM EDTRiver Flood WarningILMPender9 days
Jul 3, 9:43 AM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson2 hr
Jul 3, 11:12 AM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryILMBrunswick, Pender2 hr
Jul 3, 11:33 AM EDTAreal Flood WarningILMBrunswick, Pender3 hr
Jul 3, 12:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson57 min

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in North Carolina, 2013Every rip current statement in 2013

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.