It’s a good idea to check these before swimming in the ocean.The ocean’s waves range from tiny, fleeting ripples to tremendous, booming curls. The National Weather Service issues rip current information in Surf Zone Forecasts and Rip Current Statements. Photo courtesy of Chris Brewster, President of the Unites States Life Saving Association (USLA). Grand Avenue Beach in southern California (near San Diego). Often there is an area on the beach where the waves are not breaking, but instead you see sandy water or the white foam of a current headed back out to sea, as is apparent in this image. You can usually see the signs of a rip current. Don’t panic!Ĭontinue to breathe, keep your head above water, and don’t exhaust yourself fighting the current. Occasionally, however, a rip current can push someone hundreds of yards offshore. Rip currents stay close to shore and usually break up just beyond the line of breaking waves. This will allow more time for you to be rescued or for you to swim back to shore once the current eases. You can also swim parallel to the shore to escape the rip current. The best way to survive a rip current is to stay afloat and yell for help. Rip currents, on the other hand, are a purely local effect.ĭownload the NOAA rip current safety brochure. Rip currents have nothing do with the tides, which are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon on the whole ocean. You might have heard of something called “rip tides,” but this term is incorrect. However, if the tide is high, the wave is large, and the beach slopes sharply downhill toward the water, the undertow could be strong enough to knock you down, but it won’t carry you far-maybe just far enough to get smacked by the next big wave coming in. Unless the beach has a steep incline, the undertow will probably not be very powerful. An undertow can occur when water sinks back downhill into the sea after a wave has carried it uphill onto the beach. Rip currents are much more dangerous, because they flow on the surface of the water, can be very strong, and can extend some distance from the shore. undertowĭon’t confuse a rip current with an undertow. The ocean floor may suddenly have an ideal shape for creating unpredictable rip currents where there were none before. The shape of the ocean bottom sometimes changes during storms or when waves are particularly big. Perhaps surprisingly, rip currents are strongest at low tide. Rip current speed is influenced by the size of the waves, but sometimes waves only two feet high can produce hazardous rips. However, they have been known to flow as fast as 8 feet per second (about 5 miles per hour)-faster than an Olympic swimmer can sprint! They can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea. Rip currents typically flow at 1 to 2 feet per second. Limited as they are in size, you don’t want to get caught in a rip current while swimming. (A 4-lane highway is about 50 feet wide.) They may also form around human-made structures such as jetties and piers. Rip currents may form around low spots in the ocean floor near the shoreline or in breaks between sandbars. Image credit: NOAA Ocean Today (modified) Rip currents are often difficult to see, but you can spot them in areas where waves aren’t breaking, or where there’s foam, seaweed, or discolored water being pulled offshore (area marked by red arrows).
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