Good afternoon, this is your Tallahassee National Weather Service Surf Zone Forecast for Saturday, May 2nd through Wednesday, May 6th.

A cold front moved through this morning, and northerly winds are developing this afternoon. This will trigger dangerous rip current conditions across much of the area, particularly along the south facing and west facing Gulf beaches of Gulf County and all beaches in Franklin County.

Let's break down what's happening at your favorite beaches.

South Walton, including Sandestin, Santa Rosa Beach, and Turquoise Beach, is looking at moderate rip currents for the rest of today with surf around one foot. It'll be partly sunny with a chance of showers, highs near 70 degrees, and north winds around 20 miles per hour. The water is a comfortable 73 degrees. Sunday brings high rip current risk with surf still around two feet. It'll be sunny with highs in the lower 70s and lighter north winds at 10 to 15 miles per hour. Monday through Wednesday improve considerably with only moderate rip current risk, lighter winds shifting east to southeast, and highs gradually warming into the mid to upper 70s.

Over at Coastal Bay beaches including Panama City Beach and Magnolia Beach, we're forecasting moderate rip currents today with surf around two feet. Expect partly sunny skies, a chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms, with highs in the upper 60s and north winds around 20 miles per hour. Water temperature is 72 degrees. Sunday escalates to high rip current risk with two foot surf continuing under sunny skies. Highs reach the mid 70s with north winds 10 to 15 miles per hour. The outlook for Monday through Wednesday shows decreasing rip current risk to moderate levels, sunny to mostly sunny conditions, and warming highs in the upper 70s as winds shift east to southeast.

The Coastal Gulf beaches including Saint Joe Beach are under a High Rip Current Risk through late tonight. West facing beaches, south facing beaches, and state park beaches all carry high rip current risk today with around two feet of surf. Showers are likely with a chance of thunderstorms, highs near 70, and north winds around 20 miles per hour. Tomorrow, west facing beaches drop to moderate rip current risk, while south facing and state park beaches remain high risk. Sunny skies take over with highs in the mid 70s and north winds 10 to 15 miles per hour. Monday and Tuesday see moderate rip current risk return with one foot surf and mostly sunny conditions. Wednesday brings mostly sunny skies and upper 70s, but high rip current risk returns as south winds increase to 15 miles per hour.

Finally, Coastal Franklin beaches including Apalachicola are under High Rip Current Risk through late tonight. Two foot surf is expected with mostly cloudy skies, showers likely, and a chance of thunderstorms. Highs reach 70 degrees with north winds around 20 miles per hour. Water temperature is a pleasant 76 degrees. Sunday maintains high rip current risk with two foot

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