Rip Current, Escambia
- When
- July 4, 8:00 AM CST to July 8, 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- Escambia County, Pensacola Beach
- Injuries
- 23 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 30.614, -87.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in Florida, July 4 to 8, 1996
During the long fourth of July weekend, Life Guards at Pensacola Beach reported they had to rescue twenty-three swimmers from the strong rip currents and rough surf. All of the people rescued were treated and released at the scene.
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
- 0
- Injuries
- 23
- 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 MOB wrote it up.
During the long fourth of July weekend, Life Guards at Pensacola Beach reported they had to rescue twenty-three swimmers from the strong rip currents and rough surf. All of the people rescued were treated and released at the scene.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Rip Current in Florida, July 4 to 8, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 4, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, July 4, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 4, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Oklahoma, July 4, 1996
- Flood in New York, July 4, 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: 5560011.