Rip Current, Palm Beach
- When
- February 21, 2:30 PM EST
- Where
- Palm Beach County, Ocean Ridge
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in Florida, February 21, 1997
wind ne-e 25 kts.
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 MFL wrote it up.
wind ne-e 25 kts.
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, Palm Beach | 1997-02-21 | 60 | 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 Kentucky, February 21, 1997
- Tornadoes in Mississippi, February 21, 1997
- Tornado in South Carolina, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, February 21, 1997
- Tornado in North Carolina, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, February 21, 1997
- Tornado in Georgia, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, February 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, February 21, 1997
More
Every storm in Florida in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, February 1997
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: 5584987.