Florida, 2002

Rip Current in Florida, May 12, 2002

May 12, 2002 · NWS MFL · 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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 12, 8:30 AM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 8:30 AM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
930 AM EDT SUN MAY 12 2002

PRECIPITABLE WATER CONTINUES TO SLOWLY INCREASE ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA
AND A FEW OF THE SHOWERS ACROSS NORTHEAST BROWARD AND SOUTHEAST PALM
BEACH COUNTY THIS MORNING HAVE BEEN OF MODERATE INTENSITY.

MORNING SOUNDINGS AT MIAMI AND NASSAU STILL SHOW LOW LEVEL WINDS
AROUND 20 KNOTS ALTHOUGH MESOSCALE MODELS INDICATE THEY WILL
DECREASE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. WITH STRONG WINDS...SEA BREEZE
CIRCULATION WILL LIKELY NOT KILL OFF SOUTHEAST COASTAL SHOWERS UNTIL
MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. A VERY SLIGHT CHANCE THAT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS
WILL DEVELOP INLAND AND ALONG THE SOUTHWEST COAST LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.

MARINE...
WILL HOLD ONTO SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION THIS AFTERNOON. RIP
CURRENTS WILL BE A DANGER LATE THIS AFTERNOON NEAR LOW TIDE NEAR
3 PM...ESPECIALLY SINCE SHOWERS WILL DECREASE...LURING MORE PEOPLE
INTO THE SURF.

.MIA...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, Miami-Dade

When
May 12, 2:00 PM EST
Where
Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A man drowned in a rip current at an unguarded section of Miami Beach near 44 Street and Collins Avenue. During the afternoon when winds were east at 15 to 20 mph more than 50 people had to be rescued from rip currents along the ocean beaches of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

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, Miami-Dade2002-05-1231MaleIn 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: 5296374.