National Weather Service Raw Text Product

898 
NOUS42 KJAX 031100
PNSJAX
AMZ450-452-454-470-472-474-FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-
GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-052200-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
700 AM EDT MON JUN 3 2013

...RIP CURRENT AWARENESS WEEK THROUGH JUNE 8TH...

THE FOCUS IS TO ALERT AND EDUCATE BEACH TO THE RISKS OF RIP
CURRENTS. WHILE THEY ARE A COMMON BEACH HAZARD...THEY ARE STILL
UNKNOWN BY MANY.

RIP CURRENTS ARE NARROW CHANNELS OF WATER THAT CAN TAKE SWIMMERS
INTO DEEPER WATERS PAST THE SURF ZONE AND CAN BE SEVERAL YARDS
ACROSS.

IF CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT, DON'T PANIC OR TRY TO SWIM DIRECTLY
AGAINST THE CURRENT. INSTEAD, SWIM SIDEWAYS UNTIL OUT OF THE
CURRENT. IF ESCAPING THE CURRENT IS NOT POSSIBLE, FLOAT OR TREAD
WATER UNTIL FREED FROM THE RIP CURRENT, THEN SWIM SAFELY BACK TO
THE BEACH. CALL OR WAVE TO GET THE ATTENTION OF LIFEGUARDS OR
OTHER RESCUE PERSONNEL AT THE BEACH.

ALWAYS SWIM AT A GUARDED BEACH. HEED THE ADVICE OF LIFEGUARDS
AND PAY ATTENTION TO WARNING FLAGS POSTED AT LIFEGUARD STANDS AND
AT BEACH ACCESS POINTS.

IN ADDITION TO RIP CURRENTS...LONG CURRENTS CAN BE HAZARDOUS
TO ANYONE ENTERING THE SURF. THE NOAA NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE
DEFINES A LONG CURRENT AS A CURRENT THAT RUNS PARALLEL TO THE
SHORELINE. THIS CURRENT IS GENERATED WHEN WAVES BREAKING AT THE
BEACH RELEASE A BURST OF ENERGY.

AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE VISIT THE BEACH...RIP CURRENTS CONTINUE
TO BE A SERIOUS BEACH HAZARD. TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN AND UNDERSTAND
ABOUT RIP CURRENTS AND THE DANGER THEY CAN POSE...TO HELP ENSURE
YOU HAVE A SAFE BEACH EXPERIENCE.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON RIP CURRENTS PLEASE VISIT THE
FOLLOWING SITES...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE AT...
WEATHER.GOV/JAX

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIP CURRENT PROGRAM AT...
WWW.RIPCURRENTS.NOAA.GOV.

THE UNITED STATES LIFESAVING ASSOCIATION AT...
WWW.USLA.ORG/RIPCURRENTS...

$$