RIP CURRENT ALERT!

THE TROPICAL SYSTEM, HANNA, WHETHER A TROPICAL STORM OR A HURRICANE IS BOUND TO PRODUCE WAVE ACTION THAT WILL DRAMATICALLY INCREASE THE NUMBER OF RIP CURRENTS ON THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF THE U.S.A.

IN MOST INSTANCES, WHEN YOU ARE BEING CARRIED OUT INTO DEEPER WATER AGAINST YOUR WILL, SWIMMING PARALLEL TO THE SHORELINE WILL GET YOU OUT OF IT.  IT IS MOST LIKELY A RIP CURRENT AND THAT METHOD IS USUALLY THE QUICKEST WAY TO GET OUT OF DANGER.  TRYING TO SWIM BACK TO SHORE AGAINST IT IS AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY AND CAN CAUSE EXHAUSTION LEADING TO THE WORSE CASE SCENARIO, DROWNING.

THE SMARTEST THING TO DO, OF COURSE, IS TO STAY OUT OF THE WATER WHEN THERE IS A RIP CURRENT DANGER.  IF YOU GO OUT WHEN RIP WARNINGS ARE POSTED YOU MAY BE CREATING A SITUATION THAT COULD CAUSE OTHERS TO PUT THEMSELVES AT RISK TRYING TO SAVE YOU.

FURTHERMORE, NOT ALL BEACHES ARE MONITORED OR ARE THERE WARNING SIGNS POSTED.  KNOWLEDGE IS THE ANSWER BUT PLEASE DON’T BE TOO SMART FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.  TAKE CARE AND LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY.  GOOD SWIMMERS SOMETIMES DIE WHEN CAUGHT IN A RIP.  SOME, WITH THAT EPIDEMIC DESEASE THAT I CALL “TERMINAL UNIQUENESS”, DELIBERATELY FLIRT WITH RIPS AND GET IN TROUBLE AS A CONSEQUENCE.  HERE IS A LINK:

http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/

Cloudman23

Gustav Generating Conditions Conducive to Tornadoes

The short loop below is from the National Weather Service radar.  The loop ends at 4:38 pm EDT (you can watch the time references on the lower left.  Notice the rain bands that are drawing their moisture up from the SSW (warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico).  So, the storm is still being fed by the primary source of energy for all hurricanes, tropical storms, tropical depressions, tropical waves, lines of thunderstorms and individual thunderstorms – the latent heat of condensation.

LEFT CLICK TO ENLARGE

Short Radar Loop from NWS

Please visit the rest of this web-log at http://cloudman23.wordpress.com/.  If you are interested in weather, there are some tutorials scattered about and more will be added in time.  At the end of this page there is a cue to click to the previous page or the next page.