Inside The Eye

Rip Currents – The Hidden Hurricane Hazard

Posted on April 30, 2025

Editor’s Note: Rip currents and rough surf are the 3rd-highest cause (about 15%) of direct U.S. fatalities from tropical cyclones (based on data from 2013-2023), many of which occur due to storms that are located well offshore. Starting this hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center will provide an interactive web viewer on www.hurricanes.gov that shows U.S. rip current risk information, originating from local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices, when at least one active tropical cyclone is present in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific Ocean. For more information on this viewer, please see NHC’s 2025 New Products and Service document. NHC also has a new resource titled “Rip Currents: A Hurricane’s Hidden Hazard” on its webpage at https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/rip-currents/.

Casey Oswant, Meteorologist, National Weather Service San DiegoCassandra Mora, Storm Surge Specialist, National Hurricane CenterJohn Cangialosi, Senior Hurricane Specialist, National Hurricane Center

Casey Oswant is a Lead Forecaster at the National Weather Service office in San Diego. In addition to working the forecast desk and providing Decision Support Services to agencies across Southern California, Casey is the lead for the office’s marine program, surf and rip current observing program, and tropical program. In her free time Casey likes to spend time outdoors and scoping out San Diego’s best ice cream spots.

When a hurricane approaches the coast, most people think of wind, rain, and storm surge impacts. However, rip currents, which can occur even if a storm passes well off the coast, are often forgotten beach hazards.

Imagine you’re heading to the beach on a summer day. There’s not a cloud in the sky, and a fair weather day is forecast for your local area. Once you arrive, you see red flags flying, indicating that hazardous conditions like strong rip currents and dangerous surf are present. It turns out that a hurricane several hundred miles off the coast is to blame for these unsafe ocean conditions, even though it is not expected to directly impact land near you. You may be wondering, Is it safe to go in the ocean?

Why are we so worried about rip currents?

Unbeknownst to many beachgoers, rip currents are found at almost any beach with breaking waves. After a wave breaks, the water rushing towards the shore in the “surf zone,” or the area between the beach and the breaking waves, must flow back out to the sea, forming a rip current. These strong, narrow water channels flowing away from shore account for approximately 80% of all surf zone rescues in the United States. They also account for the majority of surf zone fatalities. Dangerous rip currents can form due to the wave energy from a distant weather system, such as a tropical storm or hurricane. In 2019, 8 people lost their lives in rip currents along the U.S. East Coast from Hurricane Lorenzo, even though that hurricane passed about 2000 miles east of there.

Lets talk about what to do after you arrive at the beach to stay safe.

Rip Current Awareness and Safety: Know Your Options

What to do if you’re caught in a dangerous rip current:

It can be challenging to tell if you’re stuck in a rip current. The first sign might be that you’re not making progress swimming toward shore, and you’re getting worn out. If it’s a strong rip current, you might feel it pulling you away from the beach. As soon as you realize you’re in danger, take action to keep yourself safe! Additionally, rip currents can be dangerous even in waist-deep water. A wave can knock a swimmer off their feet, and due to the speed of the current, it can quickly pull them away from shore.

If you find yourself stuck in a rip current, 1. The most important thing to do is to remain calm and not panic. Swimming against the current will only make you tired and increase your danger.2. Remember to float. Rip currents do NOT pull you underwater; they pull you away from the shore and into deeper water.3. If you can, swim out of the current parallel to the shore. Use the breaking waves to help push you in. If you can’t escape, float or tread water and yell or wave for help.

Be Beach Smart

Here are some other key ocean swimming safety tips from the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) that people who go to the beach should be very familiar with to remain safe:

• Swim near a lifeguard and look for the warning flags indicating the risk of rip currents. The chance of drowning at a beach protected by lifeguards affiliated with USLA is 1 in 18 million
• Know how to swim – Do not go into the ocean if you don’t know how to swim. Swimming in the ocean is not the same as swimming in a pool.
• Never swim alone, and never take your attention away from your family or friends at the beach.
• If you are not a strong swimmer, bring something that floats. The only safe flotation device is a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket that is the proper size for you.
• When in doubt, don’t go out; it’s always better to swim another day when conditions are safer!

If you’re going to the beach, always check the rip current forecast first, just as you would check for rain that day. Never assume the ocean is safe, even on a nice day. If you forgot to check the forecast, talk to a lifeguard before getting into the ocean, and do not ignore any warning flags. Another reminder: always swim near a lifeguard!

The Science Behind Rip Currents

How Waves Form

To understand how rip currents form, it’s important to learn how breaking waves develop. One way waves develop in open water is due to winds associated with distant weather systems. Waves are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the ocean’s surface, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. Wind speed, wind duration, and the distance over water the wind blows in a single direction, known as fetch, all play a significant role in wave growth. For big waves to form, strong winds need to blow for a long period of time from a consistent direction over a large distance. Waves travel across the open ocean as a form of energy. As the wave energy travels into shallower water and interacts with the ocean bottom, the wave breaks. If a wave is “bigger” or has more energy associated with it, it will interact with the bottom of the ocean sooner, which can create a larger breaking wave.

Hurricanes can generate waves that travel hundreds or even thousands of miles. Generally, the larger, stronger, and slower-moving a storm is, the bigger the waves it produces. When these large waves reach the coastline, they bring the potential for dangerous rip currents.

How Rip Currents Form

Rip currents are powerful streams of water that flow from the nearshore, where swimmers enter the water, out towards the open ocean. They form when a large amount of water rushes towards shore from breaking waves; the excess water seeks the path of least resistance back to the sea by converging and forming a rip current. They can develop anywhere but are often found between breaks in sandbars and reefs or along structures such as jetties and piers.

Many people find themselves in trouble because they swim where the waves aren’t breaking. However, rip currents often flow between breaking waves, making the water look seemingly calm. They are difficult to spot from the shoreline and can appear unexpectedly, frequently catching swimmers off guard.

The Anatomy of a Rip Current

Rip currents consist of three primary parts: the feeder, the neck, and the head. The feeder currents feed the excess water in the nearshore to the neck of the rip current, where the current is strongest, and where people usually find themselves in trouble. The water disperses in the head of the current, typically beyond the breaking waves. The characteristics of the ocean bottom in the surf zone, the area between the breaking waves and the shoreline, will determine rip current potential.

Rip Current Behavior

Rip currents can be categorized by the mechanism in the surf zone that allows them to develop. There are three main categories of rip currents: boundary or structurally-controlled, bathymetric, and hydrodynamic. How each type of rip current forms and how easy they are to predict will be described below:

Boundary rip currents can form along man-made structures, such as groins, jetties, and piers, as well as natural features like headlands and rock or reef outcrops. Rip currents along structures can be especially dangerous because they can occur even during small breaking wave conditions. Since these currents are caused by permanent structures, they tend to be long-lasting and stationary, making them easier to predict.

Bathymetric rip currents form due to the bathymetry or shape of the ocean floor. Both semi-permanent bathymetric features, such as breaks in sandbars, and fixed features like offshore submarine canyons, submarine ridges, and reefs, may create rip currents that fluctuate in intensity depending on weather, surf, and tide conditions. These rip currents are relatively stable and consistent in their location, but their occurrence is more challenging to predict due to their tendency to pulse on and off. Additionally, the location of sandbars can move due to breaking waves, which can shift the location of the rip current.

Hydrodynamic rip currents are controlled by the interactions between waves and currents. Because they do not need a fixed feature to form, the locations where they develop vary, and their duration can last from seconds to minutes. They are the most difficult to predict and can have different visual cues. Understanding the conditions that lead to the formation of these rip currents can help determine their likelihood of occurrence.

How to Spot a Rip Current

Rip currents are easiest to identify from an elevated position, such as a lifeguard stand or tower, and can be challenging to spot when standing at the water’s edge. Here are some clues to help you identify rip currents:

Look for…

• An area of lighter, seemingly calmer water flanked by areas of breaking waves and whitewater.
• A channel of churning/choppy water that is distinctive from the surrounding water.
• A difference in water color, such as an area of yellow, green, or murky tint. Moving water in a rip current can pick up sediment, sand, and marine organisms, carrying them away from the beach.
• A consistent area of foam or seaweed being carried through the surf.
• A stream of water flowing away from the beach out through the surf zone.

Keep in mind…

• If you see breaking waves, assume rip currents are present!
• Waves may break on top of a rip current, making them very hard to see.
• Rip current speeds vary but can reach up to 8 feet per second (5 mph), which is faster than the speed of an Olympic swimmer.

Find The Forecast

For more information or to see if a distant hurricane could send hazardous surf and increased rip current activity to the beach you’re visiting, check out hurricanes.gov, where the National Hurricane Center will now be providing an interactive rip current risk viewer. You can also find beach-specific forecasts by visiting https://www.weather.gov/beach/. On this site, you can click on the beach you’re visiting to get the latest surf, rip current, and local weather forecasts. Additionally, you can also find information by visiting your local NWS office’s website. A Coastal Hazards Message may be in effect if hazardous beach conditions are expected or ongoing. Look for headlines such as ‘ Beach Hazard Statement,’ ‘Rip Current Statement,’ or ‘High Surf Advisory/Warning’ in effect. Most of the time, an increase in surf will result in an increase in rip current activity.

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