Along with concerns about narrow beaches caused by unusually strong and lingering winter-weather patterns, local beach authorities are concerned -- as they are every spring -- with the danger of rip currents.

Rip currents form when excess water crashing onto shore rushes back out to sea. Typically, water rushing back seaward is not a cause for concern, being a normal consequence of waves hitting the beach.

But when sandbars just offshore block water from returning after rushing up onshore, sometimes the pressure is too much, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Rip currents occur when water pushes a breach in that sandbar, creating a rushing column of water -- often moving at speeds up to 5 miles per hour --that is often difficult to spot from shore.

Rips can be between 50 feet and 50 yards wide and can last between minutes and hours. Often, they are evident as thin columns of discolored or heavily frothed water.

Even the strongest swimmers can be carried offshore. If caught in a rip current, swimmers should remain calm and attempt to signal a lifeguard. Most importantly, do not attempt to swim against the current. Instead, swim parallel to the shore to escape the rip current by swimming to the edge of the column of water and back then diagonally toward shore.

Tim Ferry, commander of the Bethany Beach Patrol, recently attended a National Weather Service Conference in Washington, D.C., that resulted in a more uniform method of reporting rip currents.

"We know how and why they occur," Ferry said. "But what we need is a way to classify the risk."

As a result of the conference, Ferry and other beach patrol leaders will report via e-mail, phone or fax the presence of rip currents at their beaches. The National Weather Service will use this information along with up-to-the-minute weather data to issue rip warnings.

"From now on, the risk will be classified as low, moderate or high," Ferry added. Local news agencies will report the threat to beachgoers.

Ferry estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of the surf rescues his lifeguards perform are a result of rip currents.

Most of the rips that occur at Bethany Beach and its environs are what Ferry refers to as "flash" or temporary rips, which don't often last more than a few minutes, if not a whole tide cycle.

As part of a federal grant, Bethany Beach already has instructive signs posted on its lifeguard stands and along its boardwalk that inform beachgoers of rip currents.

Ferry said the commonly held notion that rip currents only happen in spring and early summer is somewhat accurate but a dangerous assumption for beachgoers.

"They can occur any time conditions arise that might produce them: high surf and high winds," he said. "They are a danger all year-round."

Reach John Duffy at (302) 537-1881, ext. 106, or by e-mail at mailto:jduffy@smgpo.gannett.com

Originally published Wednesday, June 4, 2003