Rip Current in U.S. Virgin Islands, March 3, 2002

Name: Rip Current in U.S. Virgin Islands, March 3, 2002
Start: 2002-03-03T11:00
End: 2002-03-03T13:00
Location: U.S. Virgin Islands

March 3, 2002 · NWS SJU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 39 year old man who was swimming with friends drowned after he got caught in choppy waters on the island's north coast.

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 SJU wrote it up.

A 39 year old man who was swimming with friends drowned after he got caught in choppy waters on the island's north coast.

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 San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 11:00 AM AST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 11:00 AM AST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1100 AM AST SUN MAR 03 2002

SOME CHANGES TO COASTAL WATERS FORECAST CAN BE ANTICIPATED.
THE HEAVY SURF ADVISORY WILL LIKELY BER CONTINUED INTO MONDAY
AMD TUESDAY. UPDATED MWS WILL BE SENT AT 20Z. A COASTAL FLOOD
WATCH MAY BE ISSUED ALSO AT 20Z FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

EQUIPMENT: WSR-88D IN STANDBY MODE DUE TO PAINTING.

.SJU...
.PR...SCA AMZ710-720-730-740...HSA ALL NORTH AND NORTHEAST FACING
      COASTS OF THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS AND FOR ALL OF PUERTO RICO
      EXCLUDING THE ISLAND OF VIEQUES.
      PRZ001-002-005-008-012-013-VIZ001-002-AMZ710>730-032000-

.VI...SCA AMZ710-720-730.   HSA ALL NORTH AND NORTHEAST FACING
      COASTS OF THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS AND FOR ALL OF PUERTO RICO
      EXCLUDING THE ISLAND OF VIEQUES.
      PRZ001-002-005-008-012-013-VIZ001-002-AMZ710>730-032000-

WRITTEN TEXT FORECASTS (IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH)...SATELLITE IMAGERY
...DOPPLER RADAR DATA...AND A VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF WEATHER INFORMATION
CAN BE FOUND AT THE NWS SAN JUAN WEB SITE AT:

HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU (ALL LOWER CASE).

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, St. Croix

When: March 3, 11:00 AM AST to 1:00 PM AST
Where: St. Croix County, St. Croix
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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
Rip Current, St. Croix	2002-03-03	39	Male	In Water	Direct

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

Every storm in U.S. Virgin Islands in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in U.S. Virgin Islands, 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: 5285723.