Alert archive / North Carolina / Rip Current Statements in 2014

Rip Current Statement 5, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 21, 2014New Hanover County, Pender County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this rip current statement at Jul 21, 2014, 4:55 AM EDT for New Hanover County, Pender County, North Carolina. It took effect at Jul 21, 2014, 7:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 13 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 21, 2014, 4:55 AM EDT (08:55 UTC)
In effect from: Jul 21, 2014, 7:00 AM EDT
Expired: Jul 21, 2014, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 13 hr
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC

Counties New Hanover County, NC, Pender County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:58 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 00:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 103 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: 871 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 764 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

335 
WHUS42 KILM 210855
CFWILM

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
455 AM EDT MON JUL 21 2014


NCZ106-108-220000-
/O.NEW.KILM.RP.S.0005.140721T1100Z-140722T0000Z/
COASTAL PENDER-COASTAL NEW HANOVER-
455 AM EDT MON JUL 21 2014

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

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

* LOCATION...COASTAL PENDER AND NEW HANOVER COUNTIES.

* RIP CURRENT RISK...WIND AND WAVE CONDITIONS HAVE COMBINED TO
  PRODUCE A HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK FOR COASTAL PENDER AND NEW
  HANOVER COUNTIES. A MODERATE RIP CURRENT RISK CAN BE EXPECTED
  FROM COASTAL BRUNSWICK COUNTY AND POINTS SOUTH.

* SURF HEIGHT...3 TO 5 FEET.

* TIMING...A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS WILL OCCUR THROUGH THE
  AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR RIP CURRENTS
  WILL BE AN HOUR OR TWO EITHER SIDE OF LOW TIDE...WHICH WILL
  OCCUR AROUND 10 AM THIS MORNING.

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.

&&

$$

PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE
NEW RIP CURRENT HAZARD...

HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SURVEY/NWS-SURVEY.PHP?CODE=RCVTECCHM

1 follow-up statement

063 
WHUS42 KILM 212338
CFWILM

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
738 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2014

NCZ106-108-220045-
/O.EXP.KILM.RP.S.0005.000000T0000Z-140722T0000Z/
COASTAL PENDER-COASTAL NEW HANOVER-
738 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2014

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK WILL EXPIRE AT 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

THE HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK FOR PENDER AND NEW HANOVER COUNTY
BEACHES WILL EXPIRE AT 8 PM TONIGHT. A MODERATE RIP CURRENT RISK
REMAINS IN EFFECT ON TUESDAY AS WAVE CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO
SUPPORT AN ENHANCED RIP CURRENT THREAT.

$$

BJR

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 21, 8:05 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	ILM	Robeson	55 min
Jul 21, 9:40 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	ILM	Bladen, New Hanover, Pender	80 min
Jul 21, 11:16 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	ILM	Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender	119 min
Jul 21, 1:16 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	ILM	New Hanover, Pender	119 min
Jul 21, 1:22 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	ILM	Bladen, Columbus	113 min
Jul 21, 3:08 PM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	ILM	Brunswick, New Hanover	3 hr
Jul 21, 5:54 PM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	ILM	Brunswick	3 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in North Carolina, 2014 Every rip current statement in 2014

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.