1 rip current, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Dec 17, 11:00 AM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1100 AM CST MON DEC 17 2001 LINE OF RAIN WITH ISOLATED EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES MOVING AT A STEADY PACE EAST ACROSS WESTERN FORECAST AREA ATTM. 1 TO 5 MINUTE LIGHTNING LOOPS CONTINUE TO INDICATE LITTLE IN THE WAY OF GROUND STRIKES. NEXRAD INDICATES WIND GUSTS AROUND 40 MPH WITH 1 INCH/HR MAX RAINFALL RATES AT THIS TIME. INSTABILITY STILL LOOKS FAIRLY LIMITED. WE ARE WATCHING A FEW PEEKS OF SUN BREAKING OUT OVER EASTERN ZONES. TEMPS RUNNING 75 TO 80 ALONG THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. INSTABILITY MAY BE A BIT HIGHER IN THE EAST AND WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR POTENTIAL OF ISOLATED STRONGER STORMS THERE. RIGHT NOW THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER LOOKS MARGINAL AT BEST. CURRENT PACKAGE HAS THIS REPRESENTED. TOOK SEVERE MENTION OUT OF THE WESTERN ZONES GIVEN LIMITED INSTABILITY. MSAS AND LAPS SHOWS A MUCH MORE STABILIZED AIRMASS WORKING IN BEHIND THE PREFRONTAL SQUALL LINE...AND UPDATED ZONES TO BRING DOWN POPS IN THE WEST DURING THE AFTERNOON. ALSO MADE A MENTION OF POTENTIAL RIP CURRENTS TO HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ALONG THE BEACHES. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE COMING OFF OF LOW TIDE...ESCAMBIA EMA AND BEACH PATROL REPORT SURF CHOPPY WITH THE NORMAL TROUBLE SPOTS LOOKING SUSPECT THIS MORNING. SOUTH WINDS ALONG THE COAST RUNNING 20 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY. FCSTID = 05 .MOB... AL...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY TODAY GMZ630-650-670. FL...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY TODAY GMZ655-675. MS...NONE.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-180000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 945 AM CST MON DEC 17 2001 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS TODAY... ...SLIGHT RISK OF DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE BEACHES... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTH MISSISSIPPI...SOUTH ALABAMA AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE TODAY. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...A NARROW BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH. WHILE ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY WILL START OUT LIMITED THROUGH NOON... FORECASTERS EXPECT THE INSTABILITY TO INCREASE SOMEWHAT DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. WHILE THE AMOUNT OF INCREASE IN INSTABILITY STILL REMAINS UNCERTAIN...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS OUTLOOKED THE REGION WITH A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS TODAY. THE SEVERE STORMS...IF THEY OCCUR...WOULD BE IN THE AFTERNOON HOURS...AND MAINLY OVER SOUTH ALABAMA AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WOULD BE BRIEF PERIODS OF DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS AROUND 60 MPH. THE LINE OF STORMS IS EXPECTED TO BE ALONG A MOBILE TO CAMDEN LINE BY NOON...AND TO A NAVARRE TO ANDALUSIA TO LUVERNE LINE IN THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. AT THIS TIME...COVERAGE OF ANY SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO BE LIMITED AND SHOULD NOT REQUIRE THE ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS ALONG THE COAST WILL BRING A SLIGHT RISK OF DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS TO THE ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA BEACHES TODAY. PERSONS ALONG AREA BEACHES SHOULD AVOID GOING INTO THE CHOPPY TO ROUGH SURF. SURF CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE SOMEWHAT AFTER THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES AND STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MOB.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Rough surf and strong rip currents claimed the life of a man who drowned in the waters just off Pensacola Beach.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, December 2001
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: 5275550.