New Jersey, 2002

Rip Current in New Jersey, June 16, 2002

June 16, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 31-year-old man drowned while trying to rescue his daughter and son and two other children who were caught in a rip current on the Brinley Avenue Beach in Bradley Beach. A second 19-year-old man who also was trying to help was rescued.

Where it happened

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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 happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

A 31-year-old man drowned while trying to rescue his daughter and son and two other children who were caught in a rip current on the Brinley Avenue Beach in Bradley Beach. A second 19-year-old man who also was trying to help was rescued. The children made it to shore themselves, but the father also was caught by the rip current. His body was found at 7 p.m. EDT.

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 Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 16, 12:33 PM EST, 4 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 12:33 PM EST, 4 hours 12 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
133 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2002

A TROUGH MOVES THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING WITH THE THREAT OF
SHWRS/TSTMS MAINLY NORTH. I WILL KEEP THEM MENTION IN THE FCST FOR
EARLY THIS EVENING AS ANY CNVCNTN SHOULD DIE DOWN RAPIDLY BY SUNSET.

THEN DRY AIR DOMINATES THROUGH TUE. ANOTHER WEAK TROUGH MAY MOVE
THROUGH MON AFTN AND AGAIN TUE AFTN. ALTHO ISOLD TSTMS COULD
DVLP...THERE SHOULD NOT BE ENUF COVERAGE EVEN IF THEY DO DVLP TO
CARRY CHC POPS. THEREFORE A DRY FCST WITH MOSTLY SUNNY/MOSTLY CLR
SKIES.

GUIDANCE TEMPS GENLY OK.

LONGER RANGE...THE UPPER TROUGH MOVES THROUGH TUE NIGHT WITH PSBL
SHWRS THEN A GRADUAL WARMUP. HIGH PRES OFFSHORE SHOULD KEEP ENUF
MARITIME AIR IN PLACE TO KEEP DRY WX THROUGH FRI AND ALSO PREVENT
TEMPS FROM WARMING TOO FAST. BEFORE A FRONTAL SYSTEM DROPS OVER THE
AREA WITH PSBL MAINLY AFTN RW/TRW FOR NEXT WKND.

FCSTID = 9
MPO   50  72  48  72 /  20  20  10  20
ABE   54  76  55  77 /  20  20  10  10
RDG   54  77  55  76 /  20  20  10  10
PHL   61  81  61  80 /  10  10  10   0
12N   53  75  54  74 /  10  20  10  10
SMQ   54  77  54  76 /  20  10  10   0
TTN   57  80  59  80 /  20  10  10   0
MIV   58  80  56  78 /  10  10  10   0
ACY   62  79  62  76 /  10  10  10   0
ILG   58  78  58  77 /  20  20  10  10
DOV   61  83  61  81 /  10  10  10   0
GED   59  84  64  80 /  10  10  10   0
ESN   63  83  67  81 /  10  10  10   0

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.

RNS

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, Monmouth

When
June 16, 4:45 PM EST
Where
Monmouth County, Bradley Beach
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, Monmouth2002-06-1631MaleIn 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 New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, June 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: 5300571.