The Galveston County Daily News

Fall is here. There’s a change to the air, water quality and smell. This marks the time of year when the first fronts start pushing all the way through.

To most people, a front means we get cooler temperatures and maybe some rain. It means you can pull out some clothes you haven’t worn for a while.

For a lifeguard, or anyone who is around the water a great deal of the time, there is a whole set of variables that can set off any number of possible results. For a couple of days before the front or “northern” reaches the coast, the air can get unstable.

This normally means there is an increase in humidity and a chance of rain.

On the beach, it means there will be stronger winds blowing on shore from some version of south. This results often in stronger surf and some lateral current running parallel to the shoreline. As you probably know, lateral currents and waves there will be stronger than normal rip currents near a structure like a jetty or pier.

Lateral currents cause the sandbar and trough system to be more pronounced, resulting in more shallow sandbars and deeper troughs.

So, as the lifeguards leave their houses in the morning and feel the wind and increased humidity, they know that they’ll probably have a busier-than-normal day keeping people away from dangerous areas and making sure they aren’t taken off guard when they step off the sandbars into the deeper troughs.

They’ll have to watch small children near the feeder currents that flow into the rip currents and near the first trough from the shoreline, which could be deeper than people are used to.

On the beach, there usually is a crisis point associated with a northern just as the wind shifts. The switch can be dramatic on the water’s edge, which is incredible to watch and feel. If there is going to be lightning or funnel clouds, the front line is where the air is the most unstable.

The other big hazard may not be obvious at first. The wind usually not only changes directions abruptly but also can increase its velocity rapidly.

Tents and tarps on the shoreline can easily blow down the beach and hit people. Even the beach vendors’ umbrellas can be problems. These guys are pros and know how deep to set umbrellas and how to aim them into the wind so the air doesn’t catch the underside and send a flying spear down the beach.

After the front passes, the only big danger is that people on floats will be blown offshore. For that reason, on offshore wind days we keep all floats out of the water. Then, as the waves start to line up they can get good for surfers.

For us, this is usually not a problem. If fact, it means more skilled water people are out there watching to see that bathers don’t get too near those dangerous rip currents.

Peter Davis is chief of the Galveston Island Beach Patrol. The views in this column are Davis’ and do not necessarily represent those of the Beach Patrol, Galveston Park Board of Trustees or any other entity. Information on the Beach Patrol is at galvestonbeachpatrol.com.