High Surf in New Jersey, March 4, 2002

Name: High Surf in New Jersey, March 4, 2002
Start: 2002-03-04T16:00
End: 2002-03-04T16:00
Location: New Jersey

March 4, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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 happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

Rough surf, that was caused by the weekend low pressure system, caused the drowning death of a lone surfer on Monday March 4th. The 28-year-old male surfer was surfing by himself off of the Lorraine Avenue Beach in Spring Lake. He disappeared about 4 p.m. EST that afternoon and his body was pulled from the ocean about one hour later.

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 Mar 4, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
220 PM EST MON MAR 4 2002

ONE OF THE COLDEST IF NOT THE COLDEST NIGHT OF THE SEASON ACRS OUR
CWA AS THE CORE OF THE COLD AIR MASS PASSES OVR US TNGT. THEN A QUICK
MODERATING TREND WITH TEMPS RISING TO ABV NML LVLS BY WED AFTN AND
SHLD RMN THERE FOR THE RMNDR OF THE WEEK. NEXT PCPN IS STILL SLATED
FOR THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. MED RNG ENSEMBLES FOR NOW GIVE US LESS
THAN A 30 PCT CHC OF GETG HALF AN INCH OR MORE FROM THIS EVENT.  WHL
RDGG OVR THE ERN PAC HAS BROUGHT SOME COLDER SHOTS OF LATE (WITH ONE
MORE ERLY NEXT WEEK)...THE NAO HAS REMAINED POS WHICH HAS HELPED
MAKE THESE QUICK HITTERS.

UP N FLOW FROM LAKE ERIE HAS BEEN A BIT MORE 280/290 THAN 260/270
AND THIS HAS BROUGHT SOME OF THE LES PLUS PVA INDUCED FLURRIES/SHSN
ACRS OUR NRN TIER CTYS. THE FLOW IS FCSTD TO BACK MORE INTO THE WSW
TNGT AND WITH THE SUBSID INVERSION SINKING...WE WILL KEEP THE MNTN
OF FLURRIES THIS EVE. A FEW HIER TRRN LOCNS WILL GET A FEW TENTHS
OUT OF THIS. RETURN FLOW FROM FIRST WK ALBERTA TYPE CLIPPER WILL
THEN MOVE ACRS NRN ZNS LTR TNGT. DOWN S...ONCE THE SUN SETS AND THE
JET MOVES OFSHR SKIES TNGT S/B MOCLR AND WINDS SHLD DECOUPLE TWD
MRNG.  BASED ON 12Z SOUNDGS...MDLS SEEM TO BE UNDERDOING THE CORE OF
THE COLD AIR A BIT. THUS AS FAR AS TEMPS GO...WE WILL BE GOING WITH
THE COLDER OF THE GUID SETS. AS FOR PHL...THIS MAY BE VERY WELL BE
THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME MIN TEMPS DIP INTO THE TEENS THIS WINTER
SEASON AND WE WILL COME CLOSE TO THE RECORD WARMEST MIN TEMP FOR ANY
COLD SEASON (17F ON 3/10/1932).

RECOVERY WILL BEGIN TMRW. CHLZD VORT MAX IS FCST TO LIFT NEWD THRU
CWA DURG THE DAYLIGHT HRS...BUT MSTR WILL BE LIMITED. WE BLV MOSUNNY
SHLD WORK FOR ALL OUR ZONES. MAXT BASED ON FULL SUN AND 12Z SOUNDGS
ARE IN THE UPR 20S TO THE UPR 30S. AIR MASS DOES CONT TO RECOVER LTR
IN THE DAY...BUT STILL PRFR TO EITHER GO WITH THE COLDER MAVS OR
SLGTLY BLO BOTH WHERE THEY COINCIDE.

A STGR ALBERTA LOW IS FCSTD TO MOVE FROM SD INTO THE UP OF MI TUE
NGT. WHL ITS ISENTROPIC LIFT AND FGEN FRCG ARE WELL TO THE N (AS IN
THE ST LAWR VLY) WHERE THE SNOW SHLD FALL...SOME MID AND HI LVL CLDS
WILL BE SPILLING OVR THE TOP. THERE IS TREMENDOUS RDGG FCSTD FOR
TUE NGT (H5 HGTS FCSTD TO RISE 180M FOR OUR NRN ZONES). THUS WHL WE
WILL CONT PTLY CLDY WORDG FOR 2ND HALF OF TUE NGT AND FIRST HALF OF
WED NRN ZONES. BECAUSE OF THE ABV FEAT WE PRFR THE MORE OPTIM ETA RH
FCSTS VS THE AVN. AS THAT CLIPPER LIFTS INTO CANADA...AN INCRG SWRLY
GRAD WILL BRING WRMR AIR INTO OUR CWA WED AFTN. FULL SUN MACROS IN
THE MRNG ARE IN THE MID 40S TO THE MID 50S. THUS WITH MORE
SUNSHINE...WE WILL GO SLGTLY ABV GUID IN THE SERN HALF OF OUR CWA
BUT WILL NOT GO ABV WRMR AVN MAV ACRS NRN ZNS.

MARINE: SCA WILL RMN UP EXCEPT FOR THE UPPER DE BAY.

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...SCA CSTL WATERS AND LWR DE BAY.

TFG

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Monmouth

When: March 4, 4:00 PM EST
Where: Monmouth County, Spring Lake
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.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Surf, Monmouth	2002-03-04	28	Male	In Water	Direct

What these are

High Surf: Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, March 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: 5286611.