Beach alert

Rip currents pose a high risk this week.

Thanks to Hurricane Maria, dangerous rip currents are a high risk at all of South Florida’s beaches this week. High surf also is expected, particularly along the Palm Beach County coast and extending north.

“You have the high surf until Tuesday evening but the high risk of rip currents continues until Wednesday,” said Maria Torres, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Miami-South Florida forecast office.

The risk is dangerous for all levels of swimmers, the weather service said in a beach forecast.

Large swells, as well as lifethreatening surf and rip current conditions, also are a risk along most of the U.S. East Coast, from South Florida through New England as Hurricane Maria moves north in the Atlantic.

Rip currents are powerful and life-threatening channels of water that flow quickly away from the shore.

If you’re caught in a rip current, try to relax and float, officials say. Do not swim against the current. Swim parallel to the shore until you’re out of the rip current. If it’s too difficult to do this, try to face the shore and wave and call for help.

It’s also better to always swim near a lifeguard.

According to the National Weather Service, swells of about 5 to 6 feet with breaking waves of about 10 feet are expected along the Palm Beach County coast.

Even higher surf is likely farther north along the Florida coast and along much of the U.S. East Coast.

The conditions have been sparked by Hurricane Maria, which was moving north in the Atlantic Ocean about 280 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., on Monday afternoon.