Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2016

Rip Current Statement 21, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 18, 2016Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this rip current statement at Apr 18, 2016, 3:53 AM EDT for Volusia County, Florida. It took effect at Apr 18, 2016, 8:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 12 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 18, 2016, 3:53 AM EDT (07:53 UTC)
In effect from: Apr 18, 2016, 8:00 AM EDT
Expired: Apr 18, 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 07:54 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, 7.9 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: 14 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1137 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

539 
WHUS42 KMLB 180753
CFWMLB

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
353 AM EDT MON APR 18 2016

...HIGH SURF AND LARGE BREAKING WAVES ALONG THE COAST THROUGH
LATE THIS EVENING...

FLZ047-054-059-064-141-147-190300-
/O.NEW.KMLB.RP.S.0021.160418T1200Z-160419T0000Z/
/O.CON.KMLB.SU.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-160419T0300Z/
SOUTHERN BREVARD COUNTY-INDIAN RIVER-ST. LUCIE-MARTIN-
COASTAL VOLUSIA COUNTY-NORTHERN BREVARD COUNTY-
353 AM EDT MON APR 18 2016

...HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS
EVENING...
...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM EDT THIS MORNING
THROUGH THIS EVENING...

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

* WAVES AND SURF...ONSHORE WINDS UP TO 20 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 EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA BEACHES
  THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. THE NEXT HIGH TIDES WILL OCCUR
  BETWEEN 6:00 AND 6:30 AM THIS MORNING AND AROUND 6:30 PM THIS
  EVENING.  

* 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 18, 4:02 AM EDT	Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas	MLB		30 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.