Alert archive / Massachusetts / Rip Current Statements in 2026

Rip Current Statement 6, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 31, 2026Barnstable County, Nantucket County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this rip current statement at Jul 31, 2026, 8:39 AM EDT for Barnstable County, Nantucket County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 14 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 2026, 8:39 AM EDT (12:39 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
14 hr
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA

Counties Barnstable County, MA, Nantucket County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:41 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

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 237 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 2026-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 776 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 2026-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
776 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

412 
WHUS41 KBOX 311239
CFWBOX

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA
839 AM EDT Fri Jul 31 2026

MAZ022-024-010300-
/O.NEW.KBOX.RP.S.0006.260731T1239Z-260801T0300Z/
Barnstable MA-Nantucket MA-
839 AM EDT Fri Jul 31 2026

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

* WHAT...Dangerous rip currents.

* WHERE...Barnstable MA and Nantucket MA Counties.

* WHEN...Through this evening.

* IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away 
  from shore into deeper water.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Swim near a lifeguard. If caught in a rip current, relax and
float. Don't swim against the current. If able, swim in a
direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the
shore and call or wave for help.

&&

$$

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Massachusetts, 2026Every rip current statement in 2026

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.