Bill Wrapup, No Apology For Surfer Comment
UPDATE: 8/27: Also please note Stewart's comments below and my admission that my words were "ill-advised." 8/24: Added some comments about the so-called "Rogue Wave" at the bottom. Also please note Matt's comment that some surfers have been helping rescue swimmers caught in rip currents. Since people are still uploading wave photos to the Photo Gallery (thanks!) here's a widget showing the last six pictures:
Here's our wrap-up map for Hurricane Bill.
ORIGINAL POST: Hurricane Bill is a distant memory now after making landfall in Canada. The waves topped out at 46.3 feet at Buoy #44137 but were as high as 30 feet near shore in Halifax Bay! The strongest wind gust on land was 77 mph Sable Island according to Chris Burt [JessePedia], Author of "Extreme Weather" , and I haven't heard of anything higher.
And as for that front that Bill stalled over the mid-Atlantic? You can see flooding pictures from Virginia Beach below; Chris says in regards to the 13.13" at Ridgley in Caroline County, Maryland:
Now... I got flamed yesterday by blog readers for calling an anonymous surfer in a photo "foolish". I wasn't talking about the "4-foot wave" he was surfing (apparently he's 3 feet tall and right up against the wave despite what the photo shows). I was talking about the 50 people who had to be rescued from ONE BEACH in North Carolina (surely there were hundreds up and down the coast). Several people are dead or missing from rip currents from Hurricane Bill. Surfers are not immune from rip currents, especially inexperienced ones; there's nothing on the official Rip Currents site that says surfers can't be harmed by them.
NOTE: SEE COMMENTS BELOW FOR MORE ON THIS ISSUE
That said, hopefully these are some pictures from Maine yesterday that I won't get "ripped" for (pun intended). That is to say that I'll make no comment as to the intelligence of the drivers or people standing there doing exactly the same thing that got several people missing yesterday, surely know what they are doing and it's perfectly safe - they probably aren't even getting wet.
P.S.: People are calling the wave that killed the 7-year old girl in Maine a "rogue wave". That doesn't meet the definition of a rogue wave for a few reasons. One, rogue waves happen at sea, not on shore. Two, I believe what happens at Thunder Hole" is a splashing effect created by the rocks which amplify the "wave" height as it crashes ashore.
We don't have observations from that coastal station because it was (of course) offline. Waves were "only" 14 feet offshore at the nearest station but it doesn't take a big wave to wash a person away. Waves do have different heights over a period of minutes; let's say they were ranging from 8-12 feet, doubled by the rock wall; certainly a 24-foot splash would come as a surprise if followed on the heels of several minutes of 16-footers.
Comments (6):
Stewart Lovell:
Swimmers shouldn’t be in the water if the water is closed. Forget breaking the law, the vast majority have no idea of the power out there and can easily be swept away and most people can’t even swim. So I agree somewhat with your point.
But then there is the matter of allowing surfers out. In Ocean City, NJ the officials were restricting swimmers to knee deep, but did not restrict surfers at all. They said tongue-in-cheek surfers were allowed out because they have their own PFDs (personal floation devices), and the unspoken fact that a surfer has vast experience compared to a “swimmer”.
When I was young I had been at risk of arrest when I came ashore as the police had banned surfing during a few massive swells. One time it was because hammerheads had been seen. We laughed. Sharks do not like crashing surf as they can drown.
We had no idea what was generating the swell but these were enormous waves for NJ that I have seen only three or four times ever. They were well formed like Bill’s waves were but easily twice the size, on the order of 12-14 feet. I was able to elude the cops when I came in. The City has since become much more tolerant and I can’t remember any closures since then.
Speaking of wave heights, it does correlate to rip currents. The higher the wave the more swell energy, and hence the more water is moving ashore, meaning more has to retreat.
Lastly, we not only do not fear rip currents, we are glad to see them! Unlike what you are warning against, which is hidden rips in the surf zone, they are not typical in most east coast towns that have hardened the shoreline.. They mostly form along the jetties on the side of the swell direction. The water piles up at the heel of the jetty and then runs straight out next to it. Why is this a good thing? Paddling.
Paddling is what breaks you down. The surfing itself is almost effortless, like coasting on a bike, the paddling is the bicep burner. Those jetty rips buffer the wave action and run out fast. This offers us an easy paddle out with less risk of getting pounded. Otherwise you have to punch through constant walls of white water. The last thing we would fear is a rip current !! Here are the dangers:
One is getting caught inside with a cloud-break set coming and having the wave break right on top of you. This is a “pile driver” that can not only inflict bodily damage it can pin you to the bottom. The other is worse. Attempting a take off and getting caught on the lip and getting a smacked down, AND being driven to the bottom. This is “over the falls” with a pile driver. Either way when you come up you are in the impact zone and at the mercy of the waves, probably lost your board, and then have to face all the other traffic out there too, where boards and bodies can become missles. Worse yet is getting hit by the board, not the wave. They are quite hard and have sharp noses and fins.
TCs in general offer smooth, regular waves that make it much easier to paddle around not fighting the churning motion that wears you out. TC waves are no where near as dangerous as nor’easter surf that the media doesn’t really associate with surfing. We usually don’t go out because it is just not worth the effort for lousy rides. We wait for the wind to back to clean it up.
Besides, when have you ever heard of a surfer drowning on the east coast? I’ve taken my brother and my son to the hospital, but we don’t die that often.
Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something. Oak Island doesn’t break when you go, like most of the east coast. Maybe you’ll get luck and there when a TC is going by and you’ll understand a lot.
You should still take it back.
FROM JESSE: Thanks for your points, especially those in regards to how the waves are different with Tropical Storms. Clearly you understand the idiosyncrasies of surfing and rip currents; my attempt to gloss over those by labeling and entire group of people was ill-advised. I did not intend to offend people with my comment; it was directed at the danger at hand (based on the links to the websites I posted which said that surfers were not immune to rip currents) and the legalities of being in the water when the beaches were closed. It's not lost on me that some of the surfers were aiding in the rescues, as Matt pointed out, and both of you have increased my knowlege on these topics, which I appreciate.
Posted by Stewart Lovell | August 26, 2009 3:28 PM
Matt H.:
FROM JESSE: Thanks Matt and that's great news that some of the surfers helped out in that situation. However I stand by the links that I posted above which warns surfers that rip currents can be dangerous to them too (feel free to write them, not me if you'd like them to change their info), and I can't believe that a surfer has never been harmed by one. I also can't believe that every surfer out there is only performing rescues. As with any sport, there are some who will rise to the occasion and others who will put themselves and others in danger.
I wish to respond to your comments about being flamed for referring to the surfer riding chest high slop with an onshore wind foolish in an earlier post. When you mischaracterize people that are taking advantage of great conditions and in the process saving the lives of "foolish" swimmers, then yes, you deserve to catch heat for it. With respect to your story of 50 people being rescued at WB, there were over 65 rescues that took place on Saturday alone, and these rescues were of swimmers who don't know what a 17 second swell period feels like, not surfers who understand this and are attached to things that float much better than we do. Copied here from the local wblivesurf.com forum, a note of thanks from the Ocean Rescue Director for Wrightsvill Beach, Dave Baker, thanking the surfing community for providing lifesaving assistance during the swell.
""THANK YOU!"
by WB Ocean Rescue Director » Sun Aug 23, 2009 10:09 am
To the surfing community I say “Thank You”. On Saturday the 22nd we conducted over 65 rescues. Through out the day you assisted the Ocean Rescue Team numerous times by providing floatation to swimmers caught in rip currents until the lifeguard could arrive. When the rip current near Stand 8 (Stone Street) flushed and pulled 22 people out to sea you were instrumental in preserving life by providing your assistance. I thank you as a fellow waterman for a job well done!
Dave Baker
Ocean Rescue Director
Wrightsville Beach Fire Dept.WB Ocean Rescue Director"
http://wblivesurf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16937
Posted by Matt H. | August 24, 2009 2:14 PM
RK Dadoo:
Could it be possible that the remnants of Bill makes it all the way to Europe as a storm or strong front?
FROM JESSE: Yes, it will make its way to the U.K., Scotland and Ireland with wind & rain.
Posted by RK Dadoo | August 24, 2009 1:13 PM
mario:
Hi Jesse, please tell Henry his video isn't working today....
Posted by mario | August 24, 2009 12:55 PM
Matt Johnston:
About your rip current comment: surfers actually use rip currents to their advantage to get whisked out past the break on one of nature's most enjoyable free rides. Once the rip current pulls you past the sand bar, it dissipates to nothing. Then you just paddle over less than 25 yards to catch your wave. Rips make it possible to surf all day in HUGE waves, because otherwise you'd tire to quickly trying to duck-dive under the white-water from breaking waves. SURFERS LOVE RIP CURRENTS.
For everyone else (swimmers), RIPS are just that, 'R.I.P' currents.
Posted by Matt Johnston | August 24, 2009 11:16 AM
jackovelli:
There is a reason why there are terms like "forces of nature."
The problem is that there are now large numbers of people who never personally experience them! So they act "foolishly."
Anyone who has carried water knows its weight (I believe it's around 60 pounds per cubic foot). Imagine being hit by a 60 pound weight! Imagine how many of these weights is in a wave hitting your body. But there is nothing like direct experience!
It's similar to driving an SUV like a car, then being surprised that it rolls over.
Or as a kid, putting a glass of juice in the freezer and getting a whipping after the glass bursts.
Too many of us think Physics is a class you failed in high school, instead of the laws that govern our existence!
Posted by jackovelli | August 24, 2009 11:14 AM
