DESTIN, Fla. (WKRG) — If you plan to visit the stunning Gulf Coast Beaches this spring and summer, safety should be a priority.

“We want all the visitors to our local beaches to be able to come and enjoy our beaches, they have loads to offer, but also to be safe doing so. With the Gulf of Mexico, there’s a certain threat that we want everybody to be mindful of and one of those is rip currents,” said Jason Beaman, Meteorologist in Charge at National Weather Service Mobile Alabama. “They’re the number one weather-related killer along the beaches of the northern Gulf Coast, we average around 5 fatalities each year just from Dauphin Island to Destin, with many numerous rescues that happen each and every year.”

The U.S. National Weather Service put together a graph linking beach flag alerts for nearly every beach along the Northern Gulf Coast.

Beach Warning system by NWS Mobile

Along with the graph, NWS has a four-day forecast for beach and surf conditions online.

“Even before somebody plans to come down here for the weekend, they can look at the next four days,” said Beaman. “Is there a high risk of rip currents they need to be aware of before they come down to the beach?”

WKRG News 5 separated the graph into web sections below.

ALABAMA

FLORIDA

“We don’t want to scare anybody. We want people to be informed so that when they do come down and enjoy our wonderful beaches, they have all the information to keep them and their families safe,” said Beaman.

The links are tied to local lifeguard stands and city governments updating beach and surf conditions on a regular basis.

“We try to arm visitors and locals alike with forecast information based on weather conditions, but also that local lifeguard information about the local conditions happening in each and every each because conditions can change quite rapidly from beach to beach on any given day,” said Beaman.