Severe Weather Awareness Week

Florida Severe Weather Awareness Week continues and today's topic is Marine Hazards and Rip Currents...subjects we need to have knowledge of, as boating and beach-going are some of SW Floridians favorite past times...

1. Waterspouts: are much like tornadoes over water and can develop in association with sea-breeze thunderstorms. Most common time frame for waterspout formation is in the morning and early afternoon...and are most commonly develop in Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor

2. Thunderstorms: Lightning is the most common and threatening hazard. Strong wind gusts to gale force can be produced as well as torrential rains reducing visibilities to near zero

Some safety tips regarding waterspouts and thunderstorms detailed by the National Weather Service:

-HAVE AN ESCAPE PLAN IN MIND. NEVER LET THUNDERSTORMS CUT OFF YOUR
ROUTE BACK TO LAND.
-IF A THUNDERSTORM THREATENS...BE SURE EVERYONE ABOARD IS WEARING
A LIFE JACKET. SMALL BOATS CAN QUICKLY OVERTURN IN GUSTY WINDS.
-IF CAUGHT IN A THUNDERSTORM...GO BELOW DECK IF POSSIBLE...AND STAY
AWAY FROM MASTS OR UNGROUNDED METAL OBJECTS.
-LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR WARNING INFORMATION.

3. Rip Currents: And you might never guess so, but rip currents, sometimes called riptides or undertows, have claimed more lives since 1979 in South Florida than all other weather hazards combined! In 2010, seven people in South Florida lost their lives to rip currents. A rip current is a strong channel of water flowing out toward the surf zone that can pull even the strongest swimmer out into deep water.

Some safety tips regarding rip currents detailed by the National Weather Service:

-KNOW YOUR SWIMMING ABILITY IN SEA WATERS AND CURRENTS.
-ALWAYS SWIM AT GUARDED BEACHES.
-IF CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...SIGNAL FOR HELP FIRST. REMAIN CALM...
THEN SWIM PARALLEL TO THE SHORE UNTIL YOU ARE WELL OUT OF THE
CURRENT. WHEN OUT OF THE CURRENT...SWIM DIAGONALLY TOWARD SHORE

RIP CURRENTS ARE NORMALLY ONLY ABOUT 10 TO 30 YARDS WIDE

And it's a good day to hit the beach and practice your weather safety skills with a partly cloudy sky and highs in the upper 70's to low 80's this afternoon!

Lauren