Photo: Michael Watz / iStock / Getty Images
A rip current warning remains in effect along the Jersey Shore following a weekend that saw more than a dozen people rescued due to dangerous conditions. The warning, prompted by major swells from Tropical Storm Ernesto, is expected to last until tomorrow. The Ocean City Beach Patrol and Ventnor City beach patrol leaders reported waves as high as six feet, leading to 16 rescues on Sunday alone. The weekend storms also resulted in power outages for thousands of residents.
Tropical Storm Ernesto, which regained hurricane strength on Sunday, has been generating powerful swells and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported Ernesto's maximum sustained winds at 85 mph early Monday morning. The storm is expected to weaken and become a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday. According to WCVB, the storm was centered about 340 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is expected to pass near southeastern Newfoundland late Monday and early Tuesday.
The National Weather Service has posted a coastal flood advisory and warned of a high risk for rip currents along the Atlantic Coast through Monday evening. These currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water. The warning extends from Florida to the Boston area and portions of Maine. AL.com reports that in periods of high risk, rip currents become more likely and potentially more frequent, posing a danger to all levels of swimmers.
In addition to the rescues at the Jersey Shore, a 41-year-old man drowned Saturday in a rip current at Surf City, North Carolina. Two men also drowned Friday in separate incidents on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, but it is unclear whether rip currents were involved.