Rip Current in Alabama, September 19, 1999

Name: Rip Current in Alabama, September 19, 1999
Start: 1999-09-19T08:30
End: 1999-09-19T08:30
Location: Alabama

September 19, 1999 · NWS MOB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 rip current, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 1
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.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Baldwin

When: September 19, 8:30 AM CST
Where: Baldwin County, Gulf Shrs
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 30.661, -87.750 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two persons from out of state were swimming in rough water near Gulf Shores. They both struggled in the surf and bystanders were able to get to one of the swimmers out of the rough water but could not get the other one. He was not found until the next day. Red Flag Warnings were flying along the beaches due to rough surf.

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, Baldwin	1999-09-19	29	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

Every storm in Alabama in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, September 1999

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: 5717715.