Rip Current in California, September 19, 2001

Name: Rip Current in California, September 19, 2001
Start: 2001-09-19T18:50
End: 2001-09-19T18:50
Location: California

September 19, 2001 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 19year old man disappeared in the surf. Lifeguards recovered his body after a 90 minute search.

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

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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 19year old man disappeared in the surf. Lifeguards recovered his body after a 90 minute search.

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 Sep 19, 1:30 PM PST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 19, 1:30 PM PST, 5 hours 20 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
230 PM PDT WED SEP 19 2001

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS BRINGING
FAIR AND SEASONAL WEATHER INTO THE WEEKEND. NIGHT AND MORNING MARINE
LAYER CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE NEAR THE COAST.

.DISCUSSION...ONLY MARINE LAYER CONSIDERATIONS NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AT
12Z BASE OF INVERSION AT 1800 FEET...DEEPER THAN 24 HRS PREV IN
RESPONSE TO VORT MAX MOVING THROUGH SOCAL TODAY. NEW MODELS SAY THE
VORT MAX WILL HEAD OUT TO THE NE TONIGHT AND THE UPPER HIGH OVER MEX
WILL BUILD BACK OVER SOCAL THU AND FRI. EXPECT A CLOUD COVER LESS
EXTENSIVE FOR THU A.M THROUGH WEEKEND...BUT NOT TOO MUCH. STILL
COULD GET SOME FOG INTO FAVORED AREAS OF INLAND EMPIRE. UPPER HIGH
WILL CONTINUE OVER BAJA AS FAR AS WE CAN REASONABLY SEE WITH ONLY
MINOR VARIATIONS TO MARINE LAYER AND TEMPS. A SLIGHT COOLING TREND
AND DEEPER MARINE LAYER EXPECTED EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A WEAK TROUGH
DEVELOPS OVER W CST.

.SAN...NONE.

MM

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, Orange

When: September 19, 6:50 PM PST
Where: Orange County, Seal Beach
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.677, -117.776 (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, Orange	2001-09-19	19	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, September 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: 5269145.