Swells from Hurricane Sam led to strong rip currents and multiple rescues at New Hanover County beaches.
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The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.
Swells from Hurricane Sam led to strong rip currents and multiple rescues at New Hanover County beaches.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 2, 6:27 AM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 727 AM EDT Sat Oct 2 2021 .SYNOPSIS... Swell waves from distant Hurricane Sam will bring strong rip currents to the beaches this weekend. High pressure over Virginia will sink south and east through the weekend, keeping the area dry with above normal temperatures. Rain chances return by Tuesday, with unsettled weather through much of the mid to late week period. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... An upper level ridge across the Carolinas is supporting surface high pressure centered over coastal Virginia. Both of these features will move slowly eastward over the next 36 hours. Light onshore winds will continue with dry weather expected. The only layer of moisture in the atmosphere is near 6000 feet AGL. This could support patches of stratocumulus clouds at times today, although generally clear skies are expected. All models were generally too warm with high temperatures yesterday. With this in mind, today's high temperatures are forecast to reach the lower 80s near the coast with mid 80s inland. The surface high should remain close enough to the coast to promote another night of good radiational cooling and upper 50s to around 60 degrees is expected across most areas inland from the beaches. Sunday's highs should again reach the low to mid 80s. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... High pressure off of the Carolina coast will shift farther east through Monday as mid to upper trough begins to dig down from the Great Lakes with cutoff low diving south down the Mississippi Valley. This will create a deeper southerly flow over the region with increasing moisture through the column. The best rain chances will remain mainly inland and west of local forecast area where best lift and moisture will be. Although, may see some shwrs reach into the I-95 corridor later on Mon and reaching in off the waters into Mon night. Clouds should be fairly widespread on Mon with the coast seeing the greatest amount of sun. Clouds and increasing moisture/dewpoints will help to keep overnight lows in the mid 60s most places. Mon should just top 80 most places with greater cloud cover and chc of pcp inland. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... Moisture from the Atlantic and Gulf will stream into the Carolinas into midweek as deep cutoff low over the lower Mississippi Valley begins to lift north along with weak wave moving up from the Bahamas. Chc of pcp may not be that great overall, but expect a fairly unsettled week ahead with a good amount of clouds around and chc of shwrs each day, with some places seeing some heavier rain. Models still showing some inconsistencies. Looks like a front may reach the coast on Friday with low pressure developing just along of off the coast. May see clouds and shwrs hang on a bit longer into the weekend before drier high pressure makes its way in eventually. Temps will run close to 80 most days and in the mid 60s most nights. && .AVIATION /12Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Stratocumulus around the 6000 ft AGL layer today will be the only feature to note. Patchy cumulus this afternoon. VFR throughout the period. Winds becoming easterly later this morning, veering slowly throughout the afternoon. Becoming southerly by this evening. Extended Outlook...Mainly VFR through Monday. MVFR conditions could develop in association with clouds and showers Tuesday and Wednesday. && .MARINE... Through Sunday...High pressure centered across Chesapeake Bay this morning will shift eastward and out into the open Atlantic tonight and Sunday. This will lead to light easterly winds veering southeasterly late this afternoon, then southerly by late Sunday. The bigger story will be swells from Hurricane Sam reaching their peak across the Carolinas. Buoys have shown this 12 second swell has been our primary wave component for several days now, and it should build to 4-5 feet in height this afternoon through tonight. Although remaining below our Small Craft Advisory threshold, this is a very energetic wave group and it will likely create adverse boating conditions along Frying Pan Shoals and in inlets during falling tides. Sunday night through Wednesday...High pressure will shift farther off the Carolina coast early next week with S-SE flow becoming SE to E, persisting into mid week. The flow may fluctuate as a wave/trough approaches from the east Wed. This should produce increasing winds out of a more NE direction Wed into Thurs. Residual long period easterly swell from Hurricane Sam dampens out leaving wave heights 3 ft or less Mon through Tues. By late Wed into Wed night, expect increasing seas with SCA conditions possibly developing && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...High Rip Current Risk through this evening for SCZ054-056. NC...High Rip Current Risk through this evening for NCZ106-108. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS...ILM NEAR TERM...TRA/31 SHORT TERM...RGZ LONG TERM...RGZ AVIATION...21 MARINE...TRA/RGZ
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wilmington NC 515 AM EDT Sat Oct 2 2021 NCZ110-030915- Coastal Brunswick- 515 AM EDT Sat Oct 2 2021 ...MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the Internet for more information about the following hazards. Moderate Risk of Rip Currents. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. An enhanced potential for rip currents may exist at the beaches on Sunday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. NCZ106-108-SCZ054-056-030915- Coastal Pender-Coastal New Hanover-Coastal Horry-Coastal Georgetown- 515 AM EDT Sat Oct 2 2021 ...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the Internet for more information about the following hazards. High Rip Current Risk. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. NCZ087-096-099-105-107-109-SCZ017-023-024-032-033-039-055-058-059- 030915- Robeson-Bladen-Columbus-Inland Pender-Inland New Hanover- Inland Brunswick-Marlboro-Darlington-Dillon-Florence-Marion- Williamsburg-Inland Georgetown-Central Horry-Northern Horry- 515 AM EDT Sat Oct 2 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina and northeast South Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. AMZ250-252-254-256-030915- Coastal waters from Surf City to Cape Fear NC out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Cape Fear NC to Little River Inlet SC out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Little River Inlet to Murrells Inlet SC out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Murrells Inlet to South Santee River SC out 20 nm- 515 AM EDT Sat Oct 2 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the adjacent Coastal Waters. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Hazardous weather is not expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. Small Craft Advisory conditions in seas may develop Wednesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong rip currents led to 30 rescues at Wrightsville Beach, NC.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, October 2021
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 984765.