Florida, 2002

Rip Current in Florida, September 14, 2002

September 14, 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
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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 Sep 14, 11:30 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 14, 11:30 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...AMENDMENT TO INCLUDE TOR WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1230 PM CDT SAT SEP 14 2002

SPC ALLOWE TOR WATCH 681 TO EXPIRE FOR SOUTHERN THIRD OF ALABAM FOR
TODAY AND NHC DROPPED TS WARNING. LAST MINUTE ADJUSTMENT TO ZONES TO
REFLECT SAME.

77

.MOB...
AL...FLOOD WATCH ALZ055>060-062-064 THROUGH 4PM SATURDAY.
FL...FLOOD WATCH FLZ001>006 THROUGH 4 PM SATURDAY.
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
September 14, 1:00 PM CST to 1:05 PM CST
Where
Escambia County, Pensacola Beach
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
30.614, -87.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A twenty year old student from a local college had gone to Pensacola Beach with his brother. They were body surfing in waist-deep water when a rip current started pulling them out. One brother was able to make it ashore but the other one drowned in the rough water. Red flags were flying warning of very rough surf because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

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, Escambia2002-09-1420MaleIn 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, 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: 5319883.