Best Swimmers Can be Swept Away: Beach, Marine Conditions in USVI Still Hazardous, Says National Weather Service

  • Staff Consortium
  • March 20, 2023
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Beachgoers and small craft operators in the USVI have been warned that marine conditions are still hazardous, despite the subsidence of the northerly swell that has been affecting regional waters for the past week. 

A briefing from the National Weather Service in Puerto Rico (NWS) issued on Sunday night indicates that choppy seas and hazardous marine and coastal conditions will continue into Monday.

A high rip current risk exists across the U.S. Virgin Islands, with breaking waves of between 6 to 10 feet creating dangerous swimming and surfing conditions. Rip currents, the NWS warns, can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water. 

Off shore, the NWS is reporting seas up to 7 feet, as high as 8 feet on occasion, creating marine conditions that are hazardous to small craft. Advisories have been issued for small vessels in nearshore and offshore Atlantic waters, as well as craft moving through the Anegada Passage. 

Following Sunday’s briefing, the NWS says it will no longer offer updates on this swell event.

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