Rip Current, Queens
- When
- July 23, 8:00 AM EST
- Where
- Queens County, Rockaway Beach
- Deaths
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.658, -73.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in New York, July 23, 2001
Three girls were playing in knee-deep surf near Beach 17th street on Rockaway Beach around 9 am EDT, when they were swept away by rip currents. The inlet between Rockaway and Atlantic Beach was dredged to accommodate boat travel.
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
- 3
- 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 OKX wrote it up.
Three girls were playing in knee-deep surf near Beach 17th street on Rockaway Beach around 9 am EDT, when they were swept away by rip currents. The inlet between Rockaway and Atlantic Beach was dredged to accommodate boat travel. The steep slope of the Continental Shelf, coupled with the tides, created a dangerous funnel effect.
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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 23, 1:45 AM EST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 1:45 AM EST, 6 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 245 AM EDT MON JUL 23 2001 VRY WRM AND SULTRY NXT CPL OF DYS AS BERMUDA HI ALG THE MID ATLC CST MOVS SLOLY E. STLT PICS SHOWED MID/HI CLDNS...ASSOCD WITH A SHRT WV...CURRENTLY MOVG THRU THE FCST AREA. THEREAFT LTL MORE THAN SCT CLDS TDY...WL GO WITH MSTLY SUNNY SKIES. THO VRY WRM AND HUMID TDY...WITH TMPS APCHG 90 AND DEWPTS IN MID TO UPR 60S...HEAT INDEX FCST TO RMN BLO 100. SO DO NOT FORESEE A HEAT ADVSRY. TUE WL BE A CLOSER CALL THO AS TMPS AND DEWPTS INCH UP A BIT MORE. DEWPTS GET TO THE OPPRESSIVE 70 DEG MARK TNGT. THE MSTR WL LEAD TO FG DVLPMNT LATE AT NGT. THO IT WL BURN OFF TUE MRNG...HZ WL PERSIST THRU THE DY. SFC CDFNT WL APCH FM THE NW TUE NGT. HWVR MDLS INDICATE DVLPMNT OF PREFNTL TROF WHICH WL LKLY TOUCH OFF CNVCTN TUE NGT WELL AHD OF FNTL PSG ON WED. BEST CHC FOR PCPN WL BE IN THE 06Z-16Z PD ON WED. MARINE...ALL QUIET THRU pTNGT. GRAD BTN THE OFSHR HI AND APCHG FNT WL TIGHTEN UP ON TUE. WL HDLN PSBLTY OF SCA ON OCEAN WTRS LTR TUE. .OKX...NONE. EY
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, Queens | 2001-07-23 | 13 | Female | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Queens | 2001-07-23 | 14 | Female | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Queens | 2001-07-23 | 16 | Female | 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 Wind in South Dakota, July 23, 2001
- Flooding in Florida, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 23, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Michigan, July 23, 2001
- Flash Flood in Florida, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Colorado, July 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 23, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, July 23, 2001
- Flood in Florida, July 23 to 24, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 23, 2001
More
Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, July 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: 5259358.