Rip Current, San Diego
- When
- June 30, 2:30 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County, Mission Beach
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in California, June 30, 1996
Out of an estimated 295,000 visitors to the San Diego County beaches, 366 rescues were made. Many were blamed on strong rip currents.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
Out of an estimated 295,000 visitors to the San Diego County beaches, 366 rescues were made. Many were blamed on strong rip currents. One 10-year-old San Diego boy drowned at Mission Beach.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, San Diego | 1996-06-30 | 10 | Male | In Water | Direct |
What these are
- Rip Current
- A narrow, fast current flowing away from the beach that caused a drowning or rescue.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Missouri, June 30, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, June 30, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, June 30, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, June 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, June 30, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, June 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, June 30, 1996
- Flood in Hawaii, June 30, 1996
- Hail in Oklahoma, June 30, 1996
- Hail in Oklahoma, June 30, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, June 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, June 30, 1996
More
Every storm in California in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in California, June 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5576433.