PANAMA CITY BEACH — High surf conditions in Bay County are expected to weaken today, but officials with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee say the area is not out of the water yet.
“It’s still going to be a couple days, at least, until it’s OK to be in the water,” NWS meteorologist Ron Block said Friday. “If it doesn’t look calm, (swimmers) should be very careful about going into the water.”
Single red flags continued to fly over Bay County beaches Friday, indicating high hazard surf and strong currents in the Gulf.
Carol Wagner, supervisor of the Panama City Beach Police Department’s Beach and Surf Information Unit, said high surf conditions were likely a factor in the drowning of an Alabama man Thursday.
Ahmed Ishmir Lewis, 25, of Mobile was transported to Gulf Coast Medical Center in critical condition after being pulled from the water behind Legacy by the Sea Resort near the 15000 block of Front Beach Road. He was pronounced dead late Thursday night.
“It’s a good chance the water conditions had something to do with it,” Wagner said. “That’s why it’s so important for people to follow this flag system. They don’t realize how dangerous it is.”
A surf advisory flag is posted about every mile on Bay County beaches and warns beachgoers of the risk involved in entering the water.
“The single red is a very high hazard,” Wagner said. “Whenever you have a high hazard, you probably shouldn’t go in.”
The National Weather Service uses computer models and real-time information to forecast surf conditions.
“We have a number of people along the Panhandle beaches that we contact, and we have beach (cameras),” Block said. “We’re constantly monitoring the rip currents at all times and updating as necessary.”
Block said the agency put out a rip current advisory early in the week that continued along the Gulf Coast through Friday.
He said although he expects NWS to drop its rip current advisory from high to moderate this weekend, he said it still can be dangerous, especially for inexperienced swimmers.
“It doesn’t take a lot of rip current to cause a danger,” Block said. “I think the first thing is to pay close attention to the flag that’s flying. … It’s there for a reason.”