First high rip current risk of the season

Tropical Storm Bertha may be a thousand miles away, but her winds continue to cause hazardous rip currents along the North Carolina coast.

The National Weather Service issued its first high rip current risk forecast of the summer season for southeastern North Carolina on Friday when Bertha sent large swells to the coast.

Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue reported a total of 60 rip-related rescues between Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

Rip currents are powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from shore. Typically they extend from the shoreline, through the surf zone, and past the line of breaking waves, and can be found at any beach with breaking waves every day.

Generally, the currents are less than 25 feet wide and 100 to 200 feet long, Rip currents most typically form at low spots or breaks in sandbars, and also near structures such as groins, jetties and piers.

Rip currents do not pull people under the water - they pull people away from shore. Drowning deaths occur when people pulled offshore are unable to keep themselves afloat and swim to shore. This may be due to any combination of fear, panic, exhaustion, or lack of swimming skills.

The U.S. Lifesaving Association estimates that the number of deaths due to rip currents on the nation's beaches exceeds 100 annually, and rip currents account for more than 80 percent of rescues by beach lifeguards.

Bill Luse, of Jacksonville, said he has experienced a rip current first-hand, and has taught lifeguard classes which included instruction on rip currents.

"Even the most experienced swimmer cannot swim against a rip current," Luse said. He said the most important thing for swimmers to remember is not to panic because it uses up energy and strength. "You can't swim against (the rip current). You have to swim parallel to the beach until you swim out of it," said Luse. "You will definitely be able to tell when you swim out of a rip current, and that's when you can swim back in to shore."

Luse said that after reaching a safer spot in the ocean, swimmers should get the attention of someone on the shore so they will find help.

Beachgoers should be aware that there are telltale signs of a rip current.

Often a rip current creates a difference in water color, causing the water inside the current to be murkier from sediments pulled up from the bottom, or water will appear darker because of the greater depths the current causes.

There is also a difference in the waves. The rip current will have larger, choppier waves, while calmer waves are found closer to shore.

The presence of foam on the water, an offshore plume of turbid water past sandbars and objects on the water that appear to be moving steadily seaward are also warning signs a rip current may be present.

National Weather Service Duty Forecaster John Elardo said forecasting rip currents for different beaches is not easy. He said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is compiling a rip current database. NOAA is working with lifeguards from the Outer Banks, who provide them with information so that forecasts can be refined as much as possible.

"Because we have an irregularly shaped coastline, we have to look at swell energy and make seven or eight different forecasts, because each beach has a different orientation," Elardo said. "The direction of the swells determines which beaches are most affected, so it makes forecasting really difficult. For instance, easterly swells don't affect Carteret  County beaches as much as they affect Onslow County beaches."

"Rip currents are naturally occurring, but swell energy really enhances rip current risks - the magnitude of a swell generally makes for stronger rip currents - in other words a 3 foot wave at a period of 10 seconds is less serious than a 3 foot wave at 14 seconds," he added.

Elardo said the good news is that the rip currents this week should not be as strong as they were over the weekend.

"We just changed the forecast from a moderate threat (Monday) to a low rip current threat (yesterday) for Onslow and Carteret beaches, due to the predicted east and northeast winds," he said. "There is a better chance of thunder and lightning for beach areas... even though there is a lower threat, people still need to be cautious, especially near inlets, jetties and piers where they are more prone to occur."