PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
1100 AM PDT FRI APR 25 2008
...HYPOTHERMIA DANGER EXISTS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WATERWAYS...
WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES THIS WEEKEND...MOUNTAIN SNOWMELT WILL
INCREASE AND CAUSE LOWER ELEVATION RESERVOIRS...RIVERS AND STREAMS
TO HAVE DANGEROUSLY COLD WATER. PEOPLE WADING...RAFTING OR FISHING
IN THESE WATERS BECOME VICTIMS OF THE COLD EVERY YEAR IN NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA.
DON`T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
WHILE AIR TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE 70S AND 80S...THE WATER WILL
ONLY BE IN THE 40S AND 50S. THE COLD WATER CAN BRING ON A SUDDEN
LOSS OF BODY TEMPERATURE. THIS IS CALLED HYPOTHERMIA AND IT CAN BE
FATAL.
EARLY SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA ARE UNCONTROLLABLE SHIVERING AND
NUMBNESS OF LIMBS. SOME OF THE ADVANCED STAGES OF HYPOTHERMIA
INCLUDE MEMORY LOSS...DISORIENTATION...INCOHERENCE...SLURRED
SPEECH...DROWSINESS AND APPARENT EXHAUSTION. NOTE THAT A PERSON MAY
APPEAR DRUNK DURING ADVANCED STAGES AND SHIVERING MAY ACTUALLY
DECREASE OR STOP.
WITH WATER TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S AND 50S...THE EXPECTED TIME
BEFORE EXHAUSTION OR UNCONSCIOUSNESS SETS IN FOR A HEALTHY ADULT MAY
BE AS LITTLE AS 30 TO 60 MINUTES. HYPOTHERMIA NORMALLY OCCURS
FASTER IN CHILDREN THAN ADULTS.
ANOTHER DANGER IS THAT MANY WATERWAYS WILL BE RUNNING
SWIFTLY...INCREASING THE RISK THAT PEOPLE MAY BE SWEPT OFF THEIR
FEET AND BECOME INJURED OR DROWN.
PLEASE EXERCISE COMMON SENSE WHEN ENJOYING THE WATERWAYS OF NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA. HAVE A SAFE WEEKEND.
National Weather Service Mission: "The
National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather,
hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for
the United States, its territories, adjacent waters
and ocean areas, for the protection of life and
property and the enhancement of the national economy.
NWS data and products form a national information
database and infrastructure which can be used by
other governmental agencies, the private sector,
the public, and the global community."
www.weather.gov 
