Rip currents pose danger to swimmers on Long Island beaches
This graphic shows the rip current risk in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (FOX Weather)
LONG ISLAND - Swimmers along beaches on Long Island in New York will need to pay attention to conditions amid a rip current threat there.
The National Weather Service says a high rip tide current risk is now in effect through this evening.
Kings (Brooklyn), Southwest Suffolk, Southeast Suffolk, Southern Queens and Southern Nassau Counties are the areas at risk, according to the National Weather Service.
"Anyone visiting the beaches should stay out of the surf," NWS office in New York said in a Rip Current Statement. "Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water."
What is a rip current?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 31: Surfers ride waves at Rockaway Beach in New York as high surf from Hurricane Franklin delivers strong rip tides and large waves to most of the eastern seaboard on August 31, 2023 in New York City. Numerous beaches acro
A rip current is a strong, narrow current of water that moves away from the shoreline and out to sea at a high rate of speed and can occur at any beach with breaking waves. Even the Great Lakes can experience rip currents.
Rip currents have already been reported along the U.S. coast from the Florida Panhandle through the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast, and the FOX Forecast Center expects them to remain a potential problem through at least the weekend.
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How to survive a rip current
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 31: People enjoy a day at Rockaway Beach in New York as high surf from Hurricane Franklin delivers strong rip tides and large waves to most of the Eastern seaboard on August 31, 2023 in New York City. Numerous beaches acro
If you're swimming, and you feel yourself being pulled out into the open water, stay calm.
The rip current likely won't pull you under, it will just pull you away from the shoreline. While still terrifying, staying calm can mean the difference between life and death.
Try to float in the water. Fighting the current will only make you tired. Instead, swim out of the rip current by swimming parallel to the shore, and then follow the waves back to shore.
Today's forecast
Rain showers and thunderstorms are expected, but damaging winds and large hail are also possible. The strong wind gusts could cause damage to trees and power lines, the National Weather Service said.
"With the storms today, expect the possibility of some of those storms going into the strong to severe range," FOX 5 NY's Mike Woods said. Heavy rain, gusty winds, some large hail, all possible."
FOX Weather contributed to this report.