Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2014

Rip Current Statement 8, NWS Melbourne, FL

May 20, 2014Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this rip current statement at May 20, 2014, 3:38 AM EDT for Volusia County, Florida. It took effect at May 20, 2014, 4:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 17 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 2014, 3:38 AM EDT (07:38 UTC)
In effect from
May 20, 2014, 4:00 AM EDT
Expired
May 20, 2014, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
17 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 07:39 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, 7.6 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2014-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 103 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2014-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
103 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-42 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

130 
WHUS42 KMLB 200738
CFWMLB

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
338 AM EDT TUE MAY 20 2014


FLZ047-054-059-064-141-147-210100-
/O.NEW.KMLB.RP.S.0008.140520T0800Z-140521T0100Z/
SOUTHERN BREVARD-INDIAN RIVER-ST. LUCIE-MARTIN-COASTAL VOLUSIA-
NORTHERN BREVARD-
338 AM EDT TUE MAY 20 2014

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

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

* TIMING...THE THREAT WILL BE HIGHEST EARLY THIS MORNING AND AGAIN
  FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING DUE TO TIDAL EFFECTS.

* IMPACTS...THE POWERFUL SEAWARD PULL OF A RIP CURRENT CAN CARRY
  EVEN THE STRONGEST SWIMMER OUT BEYOND THE SAND BAR. BEACHGOERS
  AND ESPECIALLY WEAK SWIMMERS SHOULD HEED THE ADVICE OF THE OCEAN
  RESCUE PERSONNEL. SWIM ONLY WITHIN SIGHT OF A LIFEGUARD AND
  NEVER SWIM ALONE.

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.

&&

$$

WEITLICH

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 2014Every 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.