Before You Paddle Out in a Big Swell, Check for Rip Currents
The National Weather Service's basic advice: read the beach forecast, ask a lifeguard and remember that calm days can be dangerous too.
With high surf and rip current warnings up along much of the California coast and in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico this week, the National Weather Service's rip current guidance is worth a reread before heading into the water.
Check conditions before you go: look at the local beach forecast before leaving home and talk to the lifeguard when you arrive. Swim at beaches with lifeguards; the U.S. Lifesaving Association puts the chance of drowning at a guarded beach at 1 in 18 million, the weather service says.
Do not assume good weather means safe water. The agency notes that rip currents often form on calm, sunny days, and that rip currents are not the only hazard: large waves can knock people down or pull them off beaches and rocks, which is why it tells beachgoers never to turn their back on the ocean.
Current alerts for any stretch of coast are listed on the local weather service office's page and on Outdoor Unc's surf stories, which carry the agency's advisory dates.
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