Rip Current, Orange
- When
- July 20, 12:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, Laguna Beach
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Rip Current in California, July 20, 2003
Lifeguards rescued dozens of people from rip currents.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- 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 SGX wrote it up.
Lifeguards rescued dozens of people from rip currents.
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 Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 2:30 AM PST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 2:30 AM PST, 9 hours 30 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 330 AM PDT SUN JUL 20 2003 .SYNOPSIS...FAIR WARM WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT CONTINUES. THERE WILL BE SOME COASTAL CLOUDS NIGHTS AND MORNINGS. MOIST SOUTHEAST FLOW WILL HELP CLOUDS DEVELOP IN MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS EACH AFTERNOON WITH A SMALL CHANCE OF SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. .DISCUSSION...A MORE TRADITIONAL NIGHT GOING ON...MOSTLY CLEAR EXCEPT FOR THE COASTAL CLOUDS MOVING ASHORE. TODAY APPEARS TO BE MOSTLY CLEAR EXCEPT AT THE COAST. THE HIGH PRESSURE WILL KEEP THE MARINE LAYER RATHER SHALLOW AND EXPECT SOME COASTAL LOW CLOUDS EACH NIGHT AND MORNING THIS WEEK...BUT NOT GETTING VERY FAR INLAND. A DRY POCKET IN SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL BE OVER SOCAL TODAY SO LITTLE IF ANY CLOUDS WILL CONVECTIVELY DEVELOP OVER THE MTNS. THE FLOW ALOFT TURNS SOUTHEAST AGAIN MON SO MORE AFTERNOON CLOUDS AND A SMALL CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE BACK IN THE FORECAST. A WEAK EASTERLY WAVE AND A DEEPER COLUMN OF MOISTURE ADVECTS IN MON NIGHT AND TUE FOR MORE MID AND HIGH CLOUDS AND A BETTER CHANCE OF PRECIP FOR MTNS AND DESERTS. AFTER THAT DISTURBANCE DEPARTS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS LOCKED IN AND THERE IS VERY LITTLE CHANGE FROM WED THROUGH SAT. .SAN...NONE. MM
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 20, 5:00 AM PST, 7 hours before
CAZ042-043-048-050-055>058-060>062-211300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 600 AM PDT SUN JUL 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE... TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE TUESDAY. MM
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heat in California, July 20, 2003
- Tornado in Iowa, July 20, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 20 to 21, 2003
- Tornado in Iowa, July 20, 2003
- Lightning Strike in South Dakota, July 20, 2003
- Heat in Oklahoma, July 20, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Dakota, July 20, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Iowa, July 20 to 21, 2003
- Hail in Nebraska, July 20, 2003
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, July 20 to 22, 2003
- Tornado and Hail in Nebraska, July 20, 2003
- Tornado in Iowa, July 20, 2003
More
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2003
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: 5365831.