Moderate rip current activity, afternoon low tide, and weekend crowd led to multiple rip current rescues at New Hanover County beaches.
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The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.
Moderate rip current activity, afternoon low tide, and weekend crowd led to multiple rip current 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 Aug 5, 5:57 AM EST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 657 AM EDT Sat Aug 5 2023 .SYNOPSIS... Weak high pressure will build in from the north today and Sunday. Isolated showers and thunderstorms will develop along the sea breeze this weekend. Next week will see typical late summer conditions of warm temperatures and a chance of rain each day, particularly during the afternoon and evening hours. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... The front will remain offshore today so we could see isolated activity over the waters throughout the day. Meanwhile over the land chances are looking a bit lower for decent coverage with sea breeze showers/storms so went with isolated. Activity will shift to over the waters tonight where we could see decent chances for fog again. Depending on cloud cover, temps could warm up a bit more inland. Overall highs should be in the upper 80s to near 90 with lows near 70. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Progressive mid-level pattern Sun becomes a little more amplified on Mon in response to shortwave moving across the Mid-West and southern Great Lakes. The flow aloft does back a bit from westerly on Sun to southwesterly Mon increasing precipitable water from around 1.5" Sun to over 2 inch Mon. Limited rainfall chances Sun with diurnal sea breeze convection being the main source of isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms. On Mon the increase in pwat is somewhat deceptive. There remains a significant amount of dry air between 700mb and 500mb and there is a lack of forcing. No shortwaves to speak of, but there should be some instability with CAPE approaching 2k J/kg. There will be a sea breeze and a weak Piedmont trough starts to take shape in the afternoon. Both of these will provide a little bit of low level convergence. The increased moisture should allow for storm development across the forecast area, although coverage will still struggle to surpass 30%. Surface high centered north of the area Sun shifts off the New England coast for Mon. Winds veer from northerly on Sun (outside of the sea breeze influence) to southwest on Mon. Partial thickness and 850 temps suggest highs warmer than one would expect given the synoptic pattern. The prolonged excessive heat across the western Gulf Coast and Southwest might be the culprit here with the very warm air in the regions being advected east by the deep west to southwest flow. Afternoon highs away from the coast could be 5 degrees above climo Sun and 5 to 10 degrees above Mon. Lows will run around 5 degree above climo. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... Flow aloft will remain weakly amplified next week, supporting daily bouts of diurnal showers and thunderstorms. Limited shortwave energy, the medium range guidance barely shows much, may provide a bit of enhancement, although hard to pin down strength/timing at such distant time ranges. Better bet will be on the storms developing along the sea breeze each afternoon with additional storms developing on outflow from first round of convection. Not expecting coverage much above what would be normal for this time of year, which is around 30%, with the lack of dynamics and a marginal environment in place. Temperatures will run 3 to 5 degrees above normal both during the day and at night. && .AVIATION /12Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Restrictions (mostly due to low stratus) will likely stick around at coastal terminals until ~18Z. Afterwards, a light sea breeze will move in with isolated shower/storm chances possible at coastal terminals until the evening with north winds becoming more southerly. Fog possible again tonight. Extended Outlook...Some aviation restrictions possible this weekend into early next week as chances for showers and thunderstorms continue. && .MARINE... Through Tonight... Light N'ly flow in the morning will become more SE'ly this afternoon but still expecting benign marine conditions. A stalled front over the waters could lead to isolated shower/storm activity throughout the day and overnight. Seas 2-3 ft with a SSW wind wave and a 1-2 ft ESE swell at 9-10 seconds. Sunday through Wednesday... Light northeast flow Sun morning will become southeast as the sea breeze circulation develops and becomes the dominant feature. Surface high over NY Sun moves off the New England coast Sun night, setting up southerly flow locally. Gradient tightens up Mon as weak front approaches and speeds increase to 15 to 20 kt. Gradient remains well defined Tue with minimal change in wind speed or direction. Front arrives in the area Tue night but struggles to push south of the waters. Southerly flow continues on Wed, but the weakened gradient will lead to weak speeds over the waters. Seas 2 to 3 ft Sun into Mon will build in response to increasing wind speeds. Later Mon seas will be 3 to 4 ft with 3 to 5 ft Mon night through Tue night. Seas drop to 2 to 3 ft Wed in response to lower wind speeds. A southerly wind wave and a southeast swell will be present through Wed with the southerly wind wave becoming the dominant wave later Mon. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...None. NC...None. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS...ILM NEAR TERM...LEW SHORT TERM...III LONG TERM...III AVIATION...LEW MARINE...III/LEW
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wilmington NC 331 AM EDT Sat Aug 5 2023 AMZ250-252-254-256-NCZ087-096-099-105-109-110-SCZ017-023-024-032-033- 039-055-056-058-059-060745- 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-Robeson-Bladen-Columbus-Inland Pender-Inland Brunswick- Coastal Brunswick-Marlboro-Darlington-Dillon-Florence-Marion- Williamsburg-Inland Georgetown-Coastal Georgetown-Central Horry- Northern Horry- 331 AM EDT Sat Aug 5 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the adjacent Coastal Waters, 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. NCZ106-108-SCZ054-060745- Coastal Pender-Coastal New Hanover-Coastal Horry- 331 AM EDT Sat Aug 5 2023 ...MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS 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. Moderate Risk of Rip Currents. .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. NCZ107-060745- Inland New Hanover- 331 AM EDT Sat Aug 5 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast North Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. Minor coastal flooding could occur again along the Cape Fear River during Saturday night's high tide. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. lew
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Carolina Beach Ocean Rescue performed 20 to 25 rip current rescues today. Wrightsville Beach reported 15 to 20 rip rescues.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 2023
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: 1108739.