Rip Current, Orange
- When
- August 29, 2:15 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, Huntington Beach
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in California, August 29, 2001
A man slipped from his boogie board in the surf near the pier and not seen again. He was presumed drowned.
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 SGX wrote it up.
A man slipped from his boogie board in the surf near the pier and not seen again. He was presumed drowned.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 29, 1:00 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 1:00 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
200 PM PDT WED AUG 29 2001
...SYNOPSIS...
A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL TROUGHS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA FOR THE
NEXT TWO DAYS. THIS WILL RESULT IN COOLER TEMPERATURES. A COASTAL
EDDY WILL CONTINUE WITH A DEEPENING MARINE LAYER AND MORE EXTENSIVE
NIGHT AND MORNING CLOUDS AND POSSIBLY SOME DRIZZLE. HIGH PRESSURE
ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE A LITTLE OVER THE WEEKEND...THEN
ANOTHER TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.
...DISCUSSION...
MARINE LYR AT 2.1K THIS MORN AND GOING UP. XPC MARINE LYR TO BE NR
3-4K THU AM AND 4-5K FRI AM. XPC IT TO MAKE IT ALL THE WAY INTO BUO
TNGT. EDDY LOOKS LIKE IT IS GOING INTO RIVER MODE WITH STRONG SOUTH
CURRENT OF CLDS MOVING ALG THE CST. EDDY IS MASSIVE AND XPC -DZ AND
POSSIBLY -RA THU MORN AND FRI MORN. WILL KEEP IT SIMPLE AND JUST
MENTION -DZ. EDDY WILL CONTINUE THRU FRI AND XPC IT TO FALL APART ON
SAT. WEAK TROF OVR NORCAL TDA WITH UPR LVL LOW. TROF WITH VORT MAX
DIGS INTO SOCAL THU WITH ANOTHER TROF ON FRI. TROF WEAKENS ON SAT.
70H HI JUST TO THE E WITH SE FLOW BRINGING IN SOME HI RH ON SAT.
WILL NOT GO FOR IT AS TOO FAR AWAY AND LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT BE TOO
FAR EAST. SFC GRADS DO NOT SHOW ANY INCREASE AND WILL NOT GO FOR
ANY BREEZES XCP USUAL IN DSRTS. HURR FLOSSIE SLOWLY DRIFTING NNW
CURRENTLY AND MAY HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT OVR THE WEEKEND. AVN
CONTINUES TO BRING MOISTURE IN FROM SE ON SAT...THEN 50H HI BUILDS
UP FROM THE SOUTH WITH SW FLOW AROUND NORTH PART OF HI BRINGS
REMAINS OF FLOSSIE INTO SOCAL. FLOSSIE REMAINS TO BE DIFFICULT TO
FCST WHERE SHE IS GOING AND THEREFORE THE AVN FCST FOR MOISTURE
MOVING IN IS QUITE SUSPECT. TEMPS GOING DOWN NEXT TWO DAYS AND THEN
UP A BIT OVR THE WEEKEND...THEN DOWN AGAIN MID NEXT WEEK. TEMPS DOWN
7-13 DEGREES SOME INLAND AND DSRT AREAS TDA. TEMPS WILL GO FOR LWR
THAN MOS BOTH DAYS. AREAS LIKE JULIAN...DEPENDING ON THE HEIGHT OF
THE MARINE LYR...MAY STILL BE WARM THU BUT IF MARINE LYR GETS OVR 4K
THEN WILL BE MUCH COOLER.
.SAN...NONE.
WHITLOWThe 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, Orange | 2001-08-29 | 22 | 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
- Hail in Nebraska, August 29, 2001
- Hail in South Dakota, August 29, 2001
- Hail in South Dakota, August 29, 2001
- Hail in South Dakota, August 29, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, August 29, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 29, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 29, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Texas, August 29 to 30, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, August 29, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 29, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, August 29, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, August 29, 2001
More
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2001
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: 5269155.