Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2016

Rip Current Statement 20, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 17, 2016Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this rip current statement at Apr 17, 2016, 4:04 AM EDT for Volusia County, Florida. It took effect at Apr 17, 2016, 8:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 12 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 17, 2016, 4:04 AM EDT (08:04 UTC)
In effect from: Apr 17, 2016, 8:00 AM EDT
Expired: Apr 17, 2016, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 12 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 08:03 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

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 91 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: 488 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.1
Supercell composite: -0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

403 
WHUS42 KMLB 170804
CFWMLB

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
404 AM EDT SUN APR 17 2016

...HIGH SURF AND LARGE BREAKING WAVES ALONG THE COAST INTO
SATURDAY...

FLZ047-054-059-064-141-147-180000-
/O.NEW.KMLB.RP.S.0020.160417T1200Z-160418T0000Z/
/O.EXT.KMLB.SU.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-160419T0300Z/
SOUTHERN BREVARD COUNTY-INDIAN RIVER-ST. LUCIE-MARTIN-
COASTAL VOLUSIA COUNTY-NORTHERN BREVARD COUNTY-
404 AM EDT SUN APR 17 2016

...HIGH SURF ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH 11 PM MONDAY...
...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING THROUGH
8 PM THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A HIGH RIP
CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING THROUGH
THIS EVENING.

* WAVES AND SURF...ONSHORE WINDS AROUND 20 MPH GUSTING TO 30 MPH
  WILL BUILD SURF ALONG THE COAST WITH LARGE BREAKING WAVES
  BETWEEN 6 AND 8 FEET IN THE SURF ZONE.

* TIMING...HIGH SURF WILL IMPACT THE VOLUSIA...SPACE AND TREASURE
  COAST BEACHES THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. THE NEXT HIGH TIDES WILL
  OCCUR AROUND 530 AM THIS MORNING....600 PM THIS EVENING...AND
  BETWEEN 600 AND 630 AM MONDAY MORNING.

* IMPACTS...LARGE BREAKING WAVES ARE EXPECTED THAT COULD RUN UP TO
  THE DUNES. MINOR COASTAL EROSION WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY
  IN LOW LYING AREAS ALONG THE COAST AND AROUND THE TIMES OF HIGH
  TIME. NUMEROUS STRONG RIP CURRENTS ARE EXPECTED. LARGE BREAKING
  WAVES WILL POSE A HAZARD TO ANYONE ENTERING THE SURF...WITH THE
  POTENTIAL TO KNOCK SWIMMERS OFF THEIR FEET AND MAKING THEM EVEN
  MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO GETTING CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A HIGH SURF ADVISORY MEANS THAT HIGH SURF WILL AFFECT BEACHES IN
THE ADVISORY AREA...PRODUCING LARGE POUNDING WAVES...LOCALIZED
BEACH EROSION AND DANGEROUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS.

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...BEACH PATROL
FLAGS AND SIGNS.

IF YOU BECOME CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...YELL FOR HELP. REMAIN
CALM...DO NOT EXHAUST YOURSELF AND STAY AFLOAT WHILE WAITING FOR
HELP. IF YOU HAVE TO SWIM OUT OF A RIP CURRENT...SWIM PARALLEL TO
SHORE AND BACK TOWARD THE BEACH WHEN POSSIBLE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A RIP CURRENT AS YOU WILL TIRE QUICKLY.

&&

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 3:55 AM EDT	Lake Wind Advisory	MLB	Lake, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia	16 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 2016 Every rip current statement in 2016

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.