Rip Current, Sussex
- When
- August 25, 2:00 AM EST to August 26, 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Sussex County, 5 mi N of Rehoboth Beach
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in Delaware, August 25 to 26, 2001
A strong high pressure system built into New England on the 25th and 26th. The northeast to east flow around the high and a developing low pressure system well east of Cape Hatteras produced rough surf and rip currents along the Delaware shore.
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 PHI wrote it up.
A strong high pressure system built into New England on the 25th and 26th. The northeast to east flow around the high and a developing low pressure system well east of Cape Hatteras produced rough surf and rip currents along the Delaware shore. A 34-year-old man drowned after going swimming in Gordons Pond State Park. His body washed ashore at the North Shore Beach. No lifeguards were on duty where he went swimming.
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 Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 1:58 PM EST, 12 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 1:58 PM EST, 12 hours 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 258 PM EDT FRI AUG 24 2001 DISC: NICE WX EVENING SHAPING UP WITH MORE IN-STORE FOR WEEKEND. THU/S MDL RUN INDICATED MORE OMINIOUS CONDITIONS IF GRADIENT FROM NRN HIGH AND ONCE TS DEAN TIGHTENED GRADIENT ALONG MID ATLANTIC COAST. HOWEVER RMNTS OF DEAN STILL QUITE NOTICEABLE ON SAT. SPEAKING OF ONCE TS DEAN THIS IS FIRST YEAR SINCE 1993 WHEN HUR SEASON BEGAN WITH FOUR CONSEC T.S.S. ALSO IN 1964, 1931 AND 07. REMAINDER OF THOSE SEASONS WENT ON TO AVERAGE 8 MORE STORMS. DRIER AIR OOZING DOWN FROM THE NORTH WITH DPS IN THE 40S OVER ERN CAN AND NEW ENGLAND. LO LVL CU FIELD MARKED BY 50 DEG DEW POINT. 80H TEMPS -5C E OF JAMES BAY. CAN WINTER BE THAT FAR AWAY? COOL AIRMAS BUT NO RECORD TEMPS WILL OCCUR HERE. DIURNAL CU THIS AFTERNOON W/B DISSIPATING AFTER SUNSET. ETA BRINGS WEAK S/W ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING AND EVEN DEPOSITS CPL HUNDREDTHS. DEW POINTS SRN AREAS IN THE 60S WHICH MAY YIELD A -SHRA OR TWO THIS EVENING BUT NOT ENOUGH TO MENTION IN FCST. GROUND FOG W/B PATCHY FOR INTERIOR SNJ AND ALONG RIVER VALLEYS. NEXT CHC WIDESPREAD SHWRS NOT UNTIL LATE LATE SUN ACRS NW AS RDG MOVES OFFSHORE AND ALLOWS IMPRESS CLDFNT TO MOVE E. TDY MARKS 8TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR NEW HOME HERE IN MT. HOLLY/WESTHAMPTON. MPO 55 75 58 74 / 0 0 20 20 ABE 58 79 59 76 / 0 0 10 20 RDG 58 79 59 76 / 0 0 10 20 PHL 65 83 63 80 / 0 0 0 20 12N 55 75 58 74 / 0 0 20 20 SMQ 64 81 63 80 / 0 0 10 20 TTN 64 81 63 80 / 0 0 10 20 MIV 63 81 59 79 / 0 0 0 20 ACY 63 80 59 78 / 0 0 0 20 ILG 64 82 61 80 / 0 0 0 20 DOV 64 81 63 80 / 0 0 10 20 GED 64 81 63 80 / 0 0 10 20 ESN 64 81 63 80 / 0 0 10 20 .PHI... DE...NONE. MD...NONE. NJ...NONE. PA...NONE. SEE YA EBERWINE
The 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, Sussex | 2001-08-25 | 34 | 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 and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 25, 2001
- Tornado in Indiana, August 25, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Kansas, August 25, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 25, 2001
- Tornadoes in Wisconsin, August 25, 2001
- Rip Currents in New Jersey, August 25 to 26, 2001
- Damaging Wind in New Mexico, August 25, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, August 25, 2001
- Hail in Texas, August 25, 2001
- Tornado in Illinois, August 25, 2001
- Hail in South Dakota, August 25, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, August 25, 2001
More
Every storm in Delaware in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, 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: 5268910.