Dangerous Rip Current Situation

Onshore winds along the beaches of Alabama and Northwest Florida and thunderstorms along the coast east of Fort Walton Beach have produced a dangerous rip current situation this afternoon. There have been numerous water rescues.

Winds have been gusting over 25 mph for the past couple of hours at ECP (the new Panama City International Airport), gusting to 36 mph just before 1 p.m. At PAM (Tyndall AFB), winds just gusted to 33 mph.

The C-Man station 18 miles S St George Island reported a thunderstorm wind of 41 MPH at 02:00 PM EDT — measured gust to 36 knots at 2 pm EDT. peak gust to 45 knots (52 mph) occurred at around 130 pm EDT

Caution family and friends to heed to warning flags along the beaches and stay out of the water until seas calm down.

Heavy rains are causing flash flooding in the Panama City area as well, with water in homes and businesses as of 1:35.

…HIGHLY DANGEROUS RIP CURRENT SITUATION…

A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT ALONG THE BEACHES
OF ALABAMA AND THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE ALONG WITH A HIGH SURF
ADVISORY FOR ROUGH SURF UNTIL 7 PM FRIDAY.

THIS IS A HIGHLY DANGEROUS RIP CURRENT SITUATION AND THERE HAVE
RECENTLY BEEN MANY RESCUES ALONG ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA
BEACHES. FOUR WATER RESCUES HAVE BEEN REPORTED AT FORT MORGAN AND
GULF SHORES AND MORE THAN TEN WATER RESCUES WERE RECENTLY REPORTED
AT ESCAMBIA COUNTY BEACHES SUCH AS CASINO BEACH.

PLEASE STAY SAFE! THE SAFEST ACTION TO TAKE IS TO REMAIN OUT OF THE
SURF UNTIL THIS DANGEROUS RIP CURRENT SITUATION HAS PASSED.

Category: Alabama's Weather