If you're headed to beaches along the East Coast over the Aug. 9 weekend, remain alert for possibly dangerous swimming conditions as a result of disturbed weather offshore.
Even without a named tropical storm directly at the coast, waves and swells from distant storms hundreds of miles away can create life-threatening conditions in the water and at the beach.
There's plenty happening offshore or nearshore as of Aug. 7 that could make conditions rough in the water, and that may continue through the weekend, said Erik Heden, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead City, North Carolina.
"Love the beach and respect the ocean," Heden said, borrowing a phrase from Dare County on North Carolina's Outer Banks.
On Aug. 7, the National Hurricane Center was watching an area of disturbed weather off the Southeast Coast that had about a 20% chance of developing into a tropical storm and a tropical wave that had emerged off the west African coast showed potential for development. Marine forecasters also were still watching Dexter, the former tropical storm about 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod. And the full moon on Aug. 9 could add to the effect of rip currents and waves.
