Rip Current, Lake
- When
- August 13, 4:00 PM CST
- Where
- Lake County, 3 mi NE of Gary
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 41.472, -87.376 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in Indiana, August 13, 2001
A 19 year old man drowned after he was caught in a rip current while swimming along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
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 LOT wrote it up.
A 19 year old man drowned after he was caught in a rip current while swimming along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 13, 2:30 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 2:30 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 330 PM CDT MON AUG 13 2001 MAIN PROBLEM THIS MORNING WILL BE SKY CONDITION. ISOLD TSTMS PERSISTING INTO PRE-DAWN HOURS OVER SRN COOK CO SO MAY HAVE TO MAKE SOME LAST MINUTE ZONE GROUPING ADJUSTMENTS. OTHERWISE...GUIDANCE IS IN AGREEMENT WITH HIGH LOW LVL RH FIELD PERSISTING UNTIL AROUND 18Z WITH CLRG THEREAFTER. IR SATLT LOOPS CONFIRM THIS WITH BKN-OVC STRATUS/SC DECK DROPPING SWWD THROUGH SRN WI AND OFF LM. WILL MENTION THIS IN ZONES FOR TDA. HIGH PRES TAKES CONTROL THIS AFTN-TUES. SFC RIDGE FCST TO MOVE THRU BY ERLY TUES SO WK RETURN FLOW MAY BEGIN BY LATE IN THE DAY. MORE SIG WARM ADVECTION FCST FOR TUES NGT-WED. DURG THIS TIME STG THETA-E ADVCTN/ISENTROPIC LIFT FCST TO N AND W FO RGN BUT DEBRIS CLOUDS FROM RESULTING CONVECTION WILL LIKELY BE ON THE INCRS DURG THESE PERIODS WITH CONVECTIVE EVENT AT BEGINNING OF EXTENDED FCST PERIOD LOOKING MORE PROBABLE. MOS TEMPS LOOK GENLY ON TRACK AND FAIRLY CONSISTENT SO WILL MAKE LTL CHG TO GOING FCST AND DEVIATE LTL FROM GUIDANCE TEMPS. .CHI...NONE. MERZLOCK
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 13, 10:39 AM CST, 5 hours 21 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 141100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL NOON PM CDT/EST MON AUG 13 2001 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. THERE WILL BE NO RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WHW
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, Lake | 2001-08-13 | 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
- Heat in Texas, August 13, 2001
- Flash Flood in Virginia, August 13, 2001
- Lightning Strikes in New York, August 13, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, August 13, 2001
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 13, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 13, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Arizona, August 13, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, August 13, 2001
- Flash Flood and Flooding in New York, August 13, 2001
- High Surf in Hawaii, August 13 to 14, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in New York, August 13, 2001
- Lightning Strikes in New Jersey, August 13, 2001
More
Every storm in Indiana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, 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: 5264193.