How Hurricanes Hundreds Of Miles Away From The US Can Still Be A Danger For Beach Trips

Things To Know Before Hurricane Season

A hurricane passing hundreds of miles offshore this summer means no big deal for your beach trip, right?

Wrong. The ocean waters can still be a threat in the form of rip currents generated by distant hurricanes, as we've seen multiple times in recent years.

Big Picture

-First, What Is A Rip Current? They are strong but narrow currents that flow away from the beach and pose a threat to all swimmers (even strong ones) by carrying them farther out to sea, possibly resulting in drowning or serious injury. Rip currents can develop at any beach with breaking waves.

-How Distant Hurricanes Create A Rip Current Danger: Waves generated by strong winds near the center of a hurricane often propagate hundreds of miles away to the U.S. coastline in the form of swells. The example below shows the swells from a hurricane creating rough waters and a rip current danger along much of the East Coast as it passes offshore more than 500 miles away.

-A Deceiving Beach Scenario: So while you might be enjoying a bright, sunny day at the beach in the scenario above, the hurricane-generated rip currents and high surf mean you should stay out of the ocean.

Deeper Dive

-Lorenzo In 2019 A Radical Example: The hurricane passed nearly 2,000 miles away from the East Coast. High surf and rip currents from the hurricane's swells caused eight people to lose their lives from Rhode Island to Florida.

-Other Recent Hurricanes: Lee in 2023, Larry in 2021 and Teddy and Paulette in 2020 are some other examples of hurricanes that passed near Bermuda, or even farther east, that still caused deadly rip currents on the East Coast.

-Last Year, Too: Tropical Storm Alberto tracked into Mexico in June 2024, but contributed to a rip current death on the Texas Gulf Coast near Galveston. Hurricane Ernesto's track near Bermuda in August 2024 generated rip currents that claimed three lives along the Southeast coast, including Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Surf City, North Carolina.

Stay Safe

-Ways To Get Informed: There are color-coded flags placed on many beaches each day to communicate the current threat. A green flag (low risk) indicates that strong rip currents are not likely. A yellow flag (moderate risk) means that there is a good chance for strong rip currents and a red flag (high risk) signals that strong rip currents are expected.

You can also get a daily rip current forecast from NOAA, and the National Hurricane Center will provide maps starting in 2025 to convey the threat posed by active tropical systems.

-What To Do If Caught In A Rip Current: Remain calm to conserve energy and don't try to swim against the current. Think of it as a treadmill that can't be turned off, which you need to step to the side of.

Swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline, or toward breaking waves. From there, swim at an angle toward the beach once out of the current.

If you are unable to swim out of a rip current, float or calmly tread water. Once you are out of the current, swim toward shore.

Draw attention to yourself by waving your arm and yelling for help if you feel you will be unable to reach the shore.

Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with weather.com for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.