Rip Current in California, August 30, 2001

Name: Rip Current in California, August 30, 2001
Start: 2001-08-30T13:00
End: 2001-08-30T13:00
Location: California

August 30, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The body of an 18 year old marine was recovered about 24 hours later and 5 miles north of where he disappeared in a strong rip current.

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: 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.

The body of an 18 year old marine was recovered about 24 hours later and 5 miles north of where he disappeared in a strong rip current.

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 30, 8:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 8:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
930 AM PDT THU AUG 30 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...
ONSHORE FLOW AND AN UNSEASONABLY DEEP MARINE LAYER WILL CONTINUE
EXTENSIVE NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS...THOUGH SOME DECREASE SHOULD
OCCUR OVER THE WEEKEND. OTHERWISE...THE WEATHER WILL BE FAIR AS THE
MOISTURE ALOFT WILL BE LIMITED.

                            ...DISCUSSION...
THE MARINE LAYER THIS MORNING WAS ALMOST 3000 FEET DEEP AS A LARGE
STRONG EDDY CONTINUED WELL SW OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND. IN FACT...WE
HAVE ALMOST A REVERSE CLEARING SITUATION WITH THE INLAND EMPIRE
HAVING THE MOST CLOUDINESS AS OF AROUND 9 AM. HOWEVER...WITH THE
INVERSION AT 7 DEG C...AND THE CLOUD THICKNESS GENERALLY RUNNING
AROUND 1000 FEET...ALL AREAS SHOULD CLEAR THIS AFTERNOON. WITH THE
DEEP MARINE LAYER...TEMPS WILL AVERAGE WELL BELOW NORMAL OVER THE
VALLEYS.

OVERALL...EXPECT THE MARINE LAYER TO CONTINUE TO BE DEEP THROUGH
FRIDAY...THOUGH SOME INCREASE IN THE HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING
SOME DECREASE IN THE MARINE LAYER PROBABLY ON SATURDAY...SO SOME
WARMING IS EXPECTED IN THE VALLEYS...WITH SLIGHT WARMING IN THE
DESERTS.

HURRICANE FLOSSIE IS BEING WATCHED...THOUGH IT IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN
THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS IT MOVES W/NW INTO COLDER WATERS. ITS CLOUD
SHIELD IS REALLY QUITE SMALL...AND THE FLOW AT AND ABOVE 500 MB IS
EXPECTED TO STAY WESTERLY HERE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...SO EXPECT
MINIMAL...IF ANY...TRANSPORT OF ITS MOISTURE UP INTO OUR AREA.

.SAN...NONE.

MAXWELL

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, San Diego

When: August 30, 1:00 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, 3 mi NW of Oceanside
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, San Diego	2001-08-30	18	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 California in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5263069.