Fifty rip currents were reported in the waters off Walton County by the South Walton County Fire District during the afternoon of March 22. These rip currents were directly responsible for the drownings of two men, one at Grayton Beach, and the other at Miramar Beach.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS TAE wrote it up.
Fifty rip currents were reported in the waters off Walton County by the South Walton County Fire District during the afternoon of March 22. These rip currents were directly responsible for the drownings of two men, one at Grayton Beach, and the other at Miramar Beach.
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 Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 22, 8:45 AM EST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 945 AM EDT THU MAR 22 2007 .UPDATE...MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES THIS MORNING FOR ALL OF THE CWA EXCEPT FAR EASTERN ZONES WHERE AREA OF LOW STRATUS PERSISTS. THIS AREA IS BEGINNING TO SHRINK IN SIZE WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND SHOULD SCATTER OUT BY MIDDAY. OTHERWISE...EXPECT PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND MILD TEMPS THIS AFTERNOON WITH HIGH PRESSURE IN CONTROL AT SFC AND ALOFT. WILL UPDATE ZONES TO REFLECT STRATUS OVER EASTERN ZONES. OTHERWISE...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES PLANNED. && .AVIATION...SOME LINGERING STRATUS ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA AND NORTH FLORIDA THIS MORNING ALONG THE INTERSTATE-75 CORRIDOR. THIS SHOULD BURN OFF IN THE NEXT HOUR AND A HALF. GENERALLY SOUTHEAST TO EAST LOW-LEVEL FLOW TODAY WILL BRING SCATTERED TO BROKEN STRATOCUMULUS ACROSS THE REGION FROM THE ATLANTIC. CIGS WILL BE GENERALLY BE IN THE 4000 TO 7000-FT RANGE. FOR TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING...I EXPECT A LITTLE MORE PATCHY FOG AND STRATUS THAN PREVIOUS MORNINGS AS WIND GRADIENT WEAKENS SLIGHTLY. && .MARINE...WINDS AND SEAS BEGINNING TO DIMINISH OFFSHORE AS GRADIENT STARTS TO RELAX. WINDS NOW DOWN AROUND 15 KNOTS WITH SEAS BELOW 6 FEET. WILL DROP HEADLINE WITH UPDATE AND CONTINUE DOWNWARD TREND THROUGH AFTERNOON. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TALLAHASSEE 79 53 82 53 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 PANAMA CITY 77 56 80 56 81 / 0 0 0 0 0 DOTHAN 80 53 81 53 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 ALBANY 79 53 81 53 82 / 0 0 0 0 0 VALDOSTA 78 52 81 53 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 CROSS CITY 80 53 80 53 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. GA...NONE. FL...NONE. GMZ...NONE. && CAMP/WATSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 440 AM EDT THU MAR 22 2007 ALZ065>069-FLZ007>019-026>029-034-GAZ120>131-142>148-155>161- GMZ750-755-770-775-230845- COFFEE-DALE-HENRY-GENEVA-HOUSTON-INLAND WALTON-COASTAL WALTON- HOLMES-WASHINGTON-JACKSON-BAY-CALHOUN-GULF-FRANKLIN-GADSDEN-LEON- JEFFERSON-MADISON-LIBERTY-WAKULLA-TAYLOR-LAFAYETTE-DIXIE-QUITMAN- CLAY-RANDOLPH-TERRELL-DOUGHERTY-LEE-WORTH-TURNER-TIFT-BEN HILL- IRWIN-EARLY-MILLER-BAKER-MITCHELL-COLQUITT-COOK-BERRIEN-SEMINOLE- DECATUR-GRADY-THOMAS-BROOKS-LOWNDES-LANIER- COASTAL WATERS FROM APALACHICOLA TO DESTIN FL OUT TO 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM SUWANNEE RIVER TO APALACHICOLA FL OUT TO 20 NM- WATERS FROM APALACHICOLA TO DESTIN FL EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM SUWANNEE RIVER TO APALACHICOLA FL EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 440 AM EDT THU MAR 22 2007 /340 AM CDT THU MAR 22 2007/ THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA...SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND GULF OF MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... HIGH PRESSURE AND RELATIVELY DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL OVER THE WEEKEND PROVIDING LIGHT WINDS AND DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA. EXPECT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEXT WEEK ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND AN ASSOCIATED FRONT APPROACH FROM THE WEST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TAE. GIBBS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Walton County Sheriff officials reported that a man drowned when a kayak carrying him and his teenage son overturned off Grayton Beach State Park. The son swam safely to shore.
Walton County Sheriff officials reported that a man drowned while attempting to rescue four people who were in distress on a raft. The four people on the raft made it safely to shore. The man was trapped in a combination of a rip current and a long shore current running parallel to the beach. The drowning occurred more than 800 yards from the nearest lifeguard tower at Miramar Beach.
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, Coastal Walton | 2007-03-22 | 55 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Coastal Walton | 2007-03-22 | 47 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, March 2007
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: 21469, 21470.