Florida, 2002

Rip Current in Florida, May 10, 2002

May 10, 2002 · NWS MOB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 rip current, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
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 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 May 10, 9:42 AM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 10, 9:42 AM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1042 AM CDT FRI MAY 10 2002

BOUNDARY OVER CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA HAS EASED A BIT
FARTHER SOUTH  WITH CONVECTION POPPING IN THE NORTHERN ZONES.
KEEPING CHC SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AT 30 PERCENT WITH SLIGHT
CHC...20 PERCENT...NEARER THE COAST AND 10 PERCENT ALG COAST. REASON
BEING IS WE SEE WEAKENING OF WIND FIELD ALF AND NEAR SFC WHICH WUD
BE FAVORABLE TO SEABREEZE.

77

.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
May 10, 12:00 PM CST
Where
Escambia County, Pensacola Beach
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
30.614, -87.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An 18-year old male student drowned in rough water near an unguarded stretch of beach near Fort Pickens. Yellow Flags, warning swimmers of rough surf, were flying along the beach at the time of the drowning. The student was with a group of kids when they couldn't find him. By the time rescuers found the boy, he had drowned.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Rip Current, Escambia2002-05-1018MaleIn WaterDirect

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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 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: 5296562.