MACON, Ga. — Memorial Day weekend is getting off to a rocky start down in South Carolina, and weather conditions might cause some issues for people visiting popular beach destinations.
There is an area of low pressure coming ashore from the Atlantic Ocean, and as it does so, it's going to cause bad weather like rain and wind up into the Carolinas.
While it is really clear to see the rain on the weather map, the real kicker is going to be in the wind, which will lead to possibly a more troublesome problem: an elevated rip current risk for a large swath of the Atlantic Seaboard.
This elevated rip current risk extends from the Outer Banks, N.C., to the northern coast of Florida, which means a number of popular beach destinations might be impacted.
Places like Wrightsville Beach, Isle of Palms, Hilton Head, Tybee Island, Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, and some of the popular destinations on the northern Florida coast like Daytona Beach are all likely to have a higher chance of rip currents taking swimmers out to sea.
Rip currents are strong currents of water that pull swimmers away from the shore, which can strand swimmers. According to the U.S. Lifesaving Association, rip currents kill approximately 100 swimmers every year in the U.S..
While the weather is likely to be quite nice this Memorial Day weekend, the wind is going to cause that rip current threat from the area of low pressure which is important to be mindful of.
If you are caught in a rip current, you need to swim parallel to the shore until you feel that you are out of it. Then, you can swim back to shore at an angle, but don't attempt to swim directly towards the shore as that is a fight you likely can't win.