Rip Current, Ocean
- When
- August 16, 7:00 AM EST
- Where
- Ocean County, Brant Beach
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in New Jersey, August 16, 1998
A 45-year-old male drowned the morning of August 16th when he was unable to swim back to shore. m.
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 PHI wrote it up.
A 45-year-old male drowned the morning of August 16th when he was unable to swim back to shore. The man was swimming with his 13-year-old son at about 8 a.m. EDT before lifeguards were on duty. The two were reportedly pulled far from the shore by an ocean current. The father struggled when he tried to swim back to shore, so the son swam to the beach alone to get help. The body was found two days later by a fishing boat three miles off Long Beach Island.
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, Ocean | 1998-08-16 | 45 | 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
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Flood in North Carolina, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Minnesota, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Texas, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 16, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 16, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, August 16, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, August 16, 1998
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, August 1998
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: 5668090.