Florida, 2001

Rip Current in Florida, April 3, 2001

April 3, 2001 · NWS MOB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 rip current, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
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  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
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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 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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 3, 10:40 AM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 10:40 AM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1140 AM CDT TUE APR 3 2001

WITH INCREASED SFC MOISTURE CONVERGENCE MOVING IN FROM THE WEST
...ELEVATED CAPES STILL AROUND 2000 J/KG NEAR THE COAST ...STRONG
CAPPING INVERSION OVER MUCH REGION PROGGED TO WEAKEN LATER
TONIGHT...IN RESPONSE TO NEXT STRONGER VORT MOVING IN SLOWLY FROM
THE W THROUGH WED AFTERNOON...WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP SCATTERED POPS
ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWFA FOR TeHIS AFTERNOON...THOUGH TRIM POPS JUST A
TAD TO THE NORTH AS MOST OF THE UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS PULLS OFF TO
THE EAST.

.MOB...
AL...NONE.
FL...NONE.
MS...NONE.

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, Escambia

When
April 3, 12:45 PM CST
Where
Escambia County, Pensacola Beach
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
30.614, -87.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 44 year old male from Minnesota drowned in rough surf while trying to rescue a 10 year old playing on a boogie board. The man had gone into the rough surf to save the youth and got caught in a rip current and drowned. The boy was able to safely make it to shore. The area where the drowning occurred was not patrolled by life guards. AT the time of the drowning, yellow flags were flying along the beaches alerting people of the rough surf.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Rip Current, Escambia2001-04-0344MaleIn WaterDirect

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

More

Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 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: 5240432.