Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2013

Rip Current Statement 13, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

December 24, 20136 counties in Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this rip current statement at Dec 24, 2013, 4:27 AM EST for 6 counties in Florida. It took effect at Dec 24, 2013, 7:00 AM EST. It was in force for 12 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Dec 24, 2013, 4:27 AM EST (09:27 UTC)
In effect from: Dec 24, 2013, 7:00 AM EST
Expired: Dec 24, 2013, 7:00 PM EST
In force: 12 hr
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL

Counties Charlotte County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lee County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:31 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 43 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: 471 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 945 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

031 
WHUS42 KTBW 240927
CFWTBW

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
427 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2013

...MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY...

.A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS WILL EXIST ALONG THE BEACHES OF
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA TODAY BEHIND A PASSING COLD
FRONT.

FLZ050-151-155-160-162-165-250000-
/O.NEW.KTBW.RP.S.0013.131224T1200Z-131225T0000Z/
PINELLAS-COASTAL HILLSBOROUGH-COASTAL MANATEE-COASTAL SARASOTA-
COASTAL CHARLOTTE-COASTAL LEE-
427 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2013

...RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A RIP CURRENT
RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING.

* TIMING...A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS WILL EXIST THROUGH THIS
  EVENING.

* IMPACTS...STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN AN ELEVATED RISK FOR RIP
  CURRENTS TODAY...WHICH CAN PULL EVEN STRONG SWIMMERS OUT INTO
  DEEPER WATER.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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.

&&

$$


HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TAMPA

1 follow-up statement

695 
WHUS42 KTBW 242355
CFWTBW

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
655 PM EST TUE DEC 24 2013

...RIP CURRENT RISK HAS EXPIRED...

.WINDS HAVE TURNED OFFSHORE OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF
MEXICO...DIMINISHING THE RIP CURRENT RISK THIS EVENING. 

FLZ050-151-155-160-162-165-250100-
/O.EXP.KTBW.RP.S.0013.000000T0000Z-131225T0000Z/
PINELLAS-COASTAL HILLSBOROUGH-COASTAL MANATEE-COASTAL SARASOTA-
COASTAL CHARLOTTE-COASTAL LEE-
655 PM EST TUE DEC 24 2013

...RIP CURRENT RISK HAS EXPIRED...

RIP CURRENT RISK HAS DIMINISHED. RIP CURRENTS WILL STILL BE
POSSIBLE NEAR PIERS AND JETTIES. 

$$


HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TAMPA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 24, 4:06 PM EST	Freeze Warning	TBW	Levy	16 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 2013 Every 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.