Rip Current, Walton
- When
- July 26, 3:00 PM CST
- Where
- Walton County, Inlet Beach
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 30.619, -86.171 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in Florida, July 26, 1996
A man was caught in a severe rip current and drowned in the Gulf of Mexico, while trying to retreive 2 children who had floated out in the gulf on a raft.
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 TAE wrote it up.
A man was caught in a severe rip current and drowned in the Gulf of Mexico, while trying to retreive 2 children who had floated out in the gulf on a raft.
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, Walton | 1996-07-26 | 50 | 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
- Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, July 26, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Texas, July 26, 1996
- Hail in Utah, July 26, 1996
- Tornado in South Carolina, July 26, 1996
- Hail in Texas, July 26, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 26, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nevada, July 26, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 26, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, July 26, 1996
- Hail in Kansas, July 26, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, July 26, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, July 26, 1996
More
Every storm in Florida in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, July 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: 5558391.