Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2014

Rip Current Statement 39, NWS Tallahassee, FL

May 12, 20144 counties in Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this rip current statement at May 12, 2014, 11:56 AM CDT for 4 counties in Florida. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 12, 2014, 11:56 AM CDT (16:56 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 2014, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL

Counties Bay County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Walton County, FL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:58 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

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 548 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 868 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -18 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.

271 
WHUS42 KTAE 121656
CFWTAE

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1256 PM EDT MON MAY 12 2014

...THERE IS A HIGH RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS ALONG
WALTON...BAY...GULF...AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON...

.MODERATE SOUTHEAST WINDS AND MODERATE SURF HAVE COMBINED TO
INCREASE THE RIP CURRENT RISK TO HIGH ALONG THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE
BEACHES THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING.

FLZ108-112-114-115-130000-
/O.NEW.KTAE.RP.S.0039.140512T1700Z-140513T0000Z/
SOUTH WALTON-COASTAL BAY-COASTAL GULF-COASTAL FRANKLIN-
1256 PM EDT MON MAY 12 2014 /1156 AM CDT MON MAY 12 2014/

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT /7 PM CDT/ THIS
EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A HIGH RIP
CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT /7 PM CDT/ THIS
EVENING. 

* LOCATION...FLORIDA PANHANDLE BEACHES

* TIMING...THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING

* BEACH FLAGS...RED

* SURF...2 TO 3 FEET

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... BEGIN TO SWIM PARALLEL TO SHORE. ONCE YOU ARE AWAY FROM
THE FORCE OF THE RIP CURRENT... SWIM BACK TO THE BEACH. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A RIP CURRENT. EVEN A STRONG
SWIMMER CAN BECOME EXHAUSTED QUICKLY.

&&

$$

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.