Northeast wind creating life-threatening rip currents at the Jersey shore

OCEAN CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Forecasters are warning about dangerous surf conditions at the Jersey shore Wednesday due to the northeast wind.

The rip current risk is "high" Wednesday, meaning life-threatening rip currents are likely. That risk will decrease to "moderate" Thursday, but beach patrol encourages everyone to be more careful this time of year.

"I know rip currents are very dangerous so it does make me very nervous when people are out there," said Linda Kriebel, of East Greenville, Pa.

With no lifeguard on duty, the Rose family planned to play it safe in Ocean City.

"I just wouldn't go in above my knees," said Karen Rose, of Perkiomenville, Pa.

But even at knee length, you could get caught in a rip current.

We spoke with Stone Harbor's beach patrol captain about the current state of rip currents down the shore.

"We've had a strong northeast wind and the surf is quite hazardous, and it's expected to continue to the weekend," said Sandy Bosacco, captain of the Stone Harbor Beach Patrol.

So what exactly is a rip current?

"A rip current is an area where the waves come into shore and it finds a deeper area where the water can escape back out to sea, and it tends to be a little deeper and the waves don't break quite as much because it's not as shallow," said Bosacco.

He says there is generally a greater risk for swimmers this time of year for two reasons.

"Historically our most serious rescues occur after Labor Day because typically the ocean is rough and we are short-handed for lifeguards," said Bosacco.

Our 6abc data journalism team found there were more than 4,000 rip current rescues in New Jersey in 2023, and five people were killed.

Captain Bosacco's best advice is to swim in front of a lifeguard.

If you find yourself stuck in a rip current, here's what you can do.

"You should swim parallel to shore until you're out of the rip area and then head back to shore, said Bosacco.

It's also important to stay calm so you don't exhaust yourself, and try to signal to people on the beach that you need help, Bosacco adds.