Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2014

Rip Current Statement 20, NWS Melbourne, FL

November 22, 2014Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this rip current statement at Nov 22, 2014, 5:13 AM EST for Volusia County, Florida. It was in force for 14 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Nov 22, 2014, 5:13 AM EST (10:13 UTC)
Expired: Nov 22, 2014, 7:00 PM EST
In force: 14 hr
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL

County Volusia County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:13 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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 168 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: 1362 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 95 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.

925 
WHUS42 KMLB 221013
CFWMLB

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
513 AM EST SAT NOV 22 2014

...ROUGH SURF WITH A HIGH RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS TODAY...

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE NORTH OF FLORIDA WILL PRODUCE STRONG ONSHORE
WINDS NEAR 20 MPH AT THE BEACHES TODAY. THIS WILL CAUSE ROUGH
SURF AND NUMEROUS STRONG RIP CURRENTS IN THE SURF ZONE.

FLZ047-054-059-064-141-147-230000-
/O.NEW.KMLB.RP.S.0020.141122T1013Z-141123T0000Z/
SOUTHERN BREVARD-INDIAN RIVER-ST. LUCIE-MARTIN-COASTAL VOLUSIA-
NORTHERN BREVARD-
513 AM EST SAT NOV 22 2014

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

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

* TIMING...ROUGH SURF AND NUMEROUS STRONG RIP CURRENT ARE EXPECTED
  THE ENTIRE DAY. THE GREATEST THREAT FOR RIP CURRENTS WILL BE FROM
  10:30 AM THROUGH ABOUT 430 PM.

* IMPACTS...STRONG ONSHORE WINDS WILL PRODUCE LARGE BREAKING WAVES
  OF ABOUT 5 TO 6 FEET IN THE SURF ZONE TODAY. NUMEROUS STRONG
  RIP CURRENTS WILL ALSO OCCUR. MINOR BEACH EROSION IS POSSIBLE
  AROUND THE TIMES OF HIGH TIDE AT AROUND 730 AM THIS MORNING AND
  AGAIN AT ABOUT 730 PM THIS EVENING.

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 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.

WITH THE SURF BEING ROUGH TODAY...LARGE BREAKING WAVES COULD KNOCK
YOU OFF YOUR FEET AND MAKE YOU MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BECOMING CAUGHT
IN A RIP CURRENT. ENTERING THE SURF ABOVE YOUR KNEES WILL BE
DANGEROUS TODAY.

&&

$$

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 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.