Rip Current in California, July 7, 2001

Name: Rip Current in California, July 7, 2001
Start: 2001-07-07T15:15
End: 2001-07-07T15:15
Location: California

July 7, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 14 year old girl was swept out 30 yards by a rip current. A 16 year old boy was able to bring her back to shore, but she did not have a pulse nor was she breathing.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 2
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 14 year old girl was swept out 30 yards by a rip current. A 16 year old boy was able to bring her back to shore, but she did not have a pulse nor was she breathing. Lifeguards were able to resuscitate her, then sent both teens to the hospital for further treatment.

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 Jul 7, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT SAT JUL 7 2001

                             ...SYNOPSIS...

THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN ARE EXPECTED AGAIN OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS INTO THIS EVENING...AND A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL
900 PM. THERE COULD ALSO BE AN ISOLATED SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORM IN THE
INLAND VALLEYS INTO THIS EVENING. DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING
A DECREASING CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT THUNDERSTORMS EARLY NEXT
WEEK. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL CAUSE AREAS OF NIGHT AND MORNING
COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND FOG...OTHERWISE FAIR.

                             ...DISCUSSION...

LOTS OF MID AND HI LEVEL DEBRIS CLOUDS AROUND THIS AM AND AREAS OF LOW
CLOUDS/FOG NEAR COAST. 12Z NKX SOUNDING NOT QUITE AS WET AS 24 HOURS
PREVIOUS BUT STILL SHOWED MOIST LAYER FROM ABOUT 770 MB TO 500 MB WITH
SLY WINDS THROUGH COLUMN. ONSHORE GRADIENTS WITH ABOUT 4 MB SAN-IPL.
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DRIFTED OVER THE DESERTS
LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...MAINLY N.

MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND THE
POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING INTO THIS EVE. A VORT MAX IS EXPECTED TO
MOVE THROUGH FROM THE SW AND MAY HELP CAUSE A FEW MORE SHOWERS W OF THE
MOUNTAINS. OTHERWISE...THERMAL AND MECHANICAL LIFT OVER MOUNTAIN AND
DESERTS WILL KEEP THEM THE PREFERRED AREAS FOR FLASH FLOODING THIS
AFTERNOON/EVE...ESPECIALLY ON THE S TO SW FACING MOUNTAIN SLOPES. SHOULD
BE INTO NVA LATE TONIGHT FOR DECREASING SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS. DRIER SW
FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPS SUNDAY FOR AN END TO THE THREAT OF SHOWERS/
THUNDERSTORMS W OF MOUNTAINS BUT STILL ENOUGH RESIDUAL LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE FOR SOME MENTION IN THE MOUNTAINS/DESERTS WITH EVEN LESS CHANCE
ON MON. GRADUALLY INCREASING HEIGHTS/THICKNESS/850 MB TEMPS AND LESS
CLOUD COVER FOR WARMING IN MOST AREAS. HOWEVER...INCREASING ONSHORE
GRADIENTS TO INTENSIFYING DESERT THERMAL LOW WILL MODERATE MAX TEMPS
NEAR THE COAST. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL RESULT IN SOME NIGHT/MORNING
COASTAL LOW CLOUDS/FOG.

LONGER RANGE PROGS MAINTAIN DRY SW FLOW ALOFT THROUGH MID WEEK BUT WITH
POSSIBLE WEAK ELY WAVE TUE. UPPER HI SLOWLY BUILDS BACK OVER THE SW
TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK WITH FLOW ALOFT TURNING MORE SLY AGAIN. WILL
LEAVE IN SOME MOUNTAIN/DESERT THUNDERSTORMS...OTHERWISE FAIR WITH NIGHT/
MORNING COASTAL LOW CLOUDS AND MINOR TEMP CHANGES.

.SAN...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 9 PM FOR MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS
       CAZ055-056-058-060-061-062...SEE LAXFFASAN.

ATKIN

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: July 7, 3:15 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, Oceanside
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, July 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: 5258015.