Name: Rip Current in Florida, June 6, 2001
Start: 2001-06-06T12:00
End: 2001-06-06T12:10
Location: Florida

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: 2
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 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 Jun 6, 2:54 AM CST, 9 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 2:54 AM CST, 9 hours 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED PRELIMINARY NUMBERS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
354 AM CDT WED JUN 6 2001

TOUGH CALL THIS AM CONCERNING PRECIPITATION CHANCES WITH THE AVN
MODEL THE MOST AGGRESSIVE WITH FAN ADVERTISING 80 POPS FOR MOB TODAY
AND ETA ON THE LOW END WITH PRACTICALLY NOTHING.  EASTERN EDGE OF
RAIN AXIS ASSOCIATED WITH WEAKENING T.S. ALLISON JUST OUTSIDE
WESTERN EDGE OF CWA AND MOVING DUE NORTH.  SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A
FEW THUNDERSTORMS BEING DETECTED OVER THE NORTHERN GULF WATERS BY
ADJACENT RADARS AND 06Z RUC HAS INITIALIZED WELL WITH THIS.  WILL
SOLVE SHORTCOMINGS OF OTHER MODELS IN THE NEAR TERM UTILIZING THE
RUC AND BRING SCATTERED POPS INTO THE COASTAL AND WESTERN ZONES FOR
TODAY...SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA STILL UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF A STACKED RIDGE.

EXPECT REMNANTS OF ALLISON TO DOMINANT THE WEATHER ACROSS THE DEEP
SOUTH...MAINLY DAY THREE...AS IT BECOMES PRIMARILY A PRECIPITATION
MAKER LATE IN THE WEEK AS IT MOVES SLOWLY NORTHEAST IN EASTERN U.S.
TROUGH.

EXTENDED...SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER TROUGH
STILL PROJECTED TO HANG UP ALONG GULF COAST DURING EXTENDED
PERIOD...WITH PCPN COVERAGE GRADUALLY DIMINISHING.

MARINE...SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION FOR SOUTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20
ACROSS THE WESTERN MARINE ZONES...SOUTHEAST 15 KNOTS EASTERN ZONES.
WIND AND SEAS SLOWLY SUBSIDE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT.

FIRE...NO HIGHLIGHTS.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
MOB ET 086/073 084/071 086 22435
PNS ET 085/074 085/073 086 22435
DTS ET 085/076 085/075 084 22435
GZH ET 086/071 084/070 085 22225
2R0 ET 086/072 083/070 084 22445
61A ET 086/071 083/069 083 22335

/22

.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: June 6, 12:00 PM CST to 12:10 PM CST
Where: Escambia County, Pensacola Beach
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 30.614, -87.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 59 year old male from Tennessee and his daughters father in-law, a 60 year old male from Great Britain, both drowned while swimming in rough waters near the Santa Rosa and Escambia county lines. The male from England was swimming in the rough surf when he encountered a strong rip current. The male from Tennessee jumped in to help the man from England and they both drowned. Two firefighters attempting to rescue the men had to be pulled from the heavy surf and were transported to a local hospital. They were checked over and released. Rescuers on the scene said the surf was the roughest they had ever seen. The drownings occurred near Parking Lot number 1 east of Pensacola Beach.

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, Escambia	2001-06-06	59	Male	In Water	Direct
Rip Current, Escambia	2001-06-06	60	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

More

Every storm in Florida in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, June 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: 5251529.