Dean Causes Rip Currents to Carolinas

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UPDATE: Blog reader David sends this news article stating "Rip currents that developed late Sunday afternoon caused dozens of water rescues and near-drownings on the beaches of southern Horry County, Surfside Beach and North Myrtle Beach, according to rescue officials and the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C."

ORIGINAL POST:

Here's something interesting -- The NWS [JessePedia] is issuing High Rip Current risks from Cape Hatteras southward into South Carolina today, even though Hurricane Dean is in the Caribbean behind Cuba and other islands. I guess in the ocean, waves moving outwards from a hurricane can sneak between the islands and cause trouble a long way away.

They say "WIND...WAVE...SWELL...AND TIDE CONDITIONS WILL CREATE POWERFUL RIP CURRENTS..." I'll have to trust them on that, as I couldn't see much of interest on the Wave Model wave analysis today (see above) or wind analysis, although the Surface Mean Period of Wind Waves did highlight the Southeast coast. I'm no fluid dynamics expert so I'm not sure if that is related or not. Rip currents are no joke; you should know how to avoid them and how to get out if caught.