Rip Current in California, September 3 to 4, 2002

Name: Rip Current in California, September 3 to 4, 2002
Start: 2002-09-03T07:00
End: 2002-09-04T17:00
Location: California

September 3 to 4, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy surf generated by Tropical Cyclone Hernan, caused breakers between 12 and 20 feet and strong rip currents along Orange County beaches.

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
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The toll

Deaths: 0
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 SGX wrote it up.

Heavy surf generated by Tropical Cyclone Hernan, caused breakers between 12 and 20 feet and strong rip currents along Orange County beaches.

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 San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 3, 2:10 AM PST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 3, 2:10 AM PST, 4 hours 50 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
310 AM PDT TUE SEP 3 2002

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BEGIN TO WEAKEN TODAY AS A
TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS TO THE NORTHWEST. THIS TROUGH WILL
BEGIN TO FUNNEL MOISTURE FROM WEAKENING HURRICANE HERNAN ACROSS THE
AREA FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY WITH PERIODS OF SHOWERS POSSIBLE.
SURF WILL BUILD ALONG SOUTH FACING BEACHES WITH SIGNIFICANTLY
HIGHER SURF FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.

.DISCUSSION...THE SHAKING WASNT DUE TO SHIVERING...BUT A SLOW
COOLING TREND SHOULD BEGIN TO TAKE THE EDGE OFF THE HEAT TODAY AND
WED. HIGH PRESSURE WILL WEAKEN A LTL TODAY AND WED AS A LOW PRESSURE
TROUGH DEVEVLOPS TO THE NW. MSTR FM GENEVIEVE HAS LARGELY EXITED THE
AREA...BUT ENOUGH RESIDUAL MSTR SHOULD REMAIN FOR AT LEAST SOME
CLOUDS OVR THE MTNS THIS AFTERNOON. NO CHANGES FOR THE CURRENT DRY
FORECAST FOR THIS AFTERNOON...BUT AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OVR THE
SBD MTNS ISNT OUT OF THE QUESTION. ACARS SOUNDINGS SHOW THE BASE OF
THE MARINE INVERSION NR 800 FT WITH SOME WKNG IN THE INVERSION
STRENGTH IN THE PAST 24 HOURS. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS STRATUS JUST
OFF THE CST FM LONG BEACH SOUTH WITH MDLS SHOWING A WELL-DEFINED
CSTL EDDY THRU WED NIGHT. STRATUS MAY SPREAD LOCALLY INLAND NR THE
CST THIS MORNING AND AGAIN LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY WED. HIGH LVL MSTR
FM HERNAN SHOULD BEGIN TO ARRIVE TONIGHT AND MAY CAUSE SOME
DISRUPTION IN CSTL STRATUS COVERAGE. MID AND HIGH LVL MSTR WL INCR
WED WITH SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE IN THE AFTERNOON. MSTR WL
INCR MORE SIGNIFICANTLY FOR WED NIGHT AND THU WITH SHOWERS POSSIBLE
OVER MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE HANDLING OF THE UPPER TROUGH TO
THE NW BY THE LATEST RUN OF THE GFS IS TROUBLESOME IN THAT IT WOULD
NOT JUST DRAW IN MID AND HIGH LVL MSTR FM HERNAN...BUT MIGHT BRING
ALL OF WHATS LEFT OF HERNAN ACROSS SRN CA FRI. THIS WL HAVE TO
WATCHED CLOSELY THE NEXT FEW DAYS. IN ANY EVENT...THE TROUGH SHOULD
BEGIN TO MOVE EAST ON SAT WITH DECRG CLOUDS AND WITH DRIER
CONDITIONS FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY.

SURF...BUOYS OVR THE SRN CA CSTL WATERS ARE SHOWING THE INITIAL
ARRIVAL OF SWELL FM HURRICANE HERNAN WITH A SLOW BUILDING OF LONG
PERIOD SWELL. THIS SHOULD SLOWLY BUILD TODAY WITH SIGNIFICANTLY
HIGHER SURF POSSIBLE FOR WED AND THU FOR SOUTH FACING BEACHES...
SEE LAXMWSSGX AND LAXMWSLOX FOR DETAILS.

.SAN...MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXMWSSGX

MARTIN

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, Orange

When: September 3, 7:00 AM PST to September 4, 5:00 PM PST
Where: Orange County, Newport Beach
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 2002

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: 5316468.