Rip Current, Lower Baldwin
- When
- August 4, 2:30 PM CST to 2:32 PM CST
- Where
- Lower Baldwin forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
Rip Current in Alabama, August 4, 2008
A 50 year old male visitor from Louisiana drowned in rough surf in Orange Beach from Tropical Storm Edouard. He was swimming with family members when he disappeared.
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 MOB wrote it up.
A 50 year old male visitor from Louisiana drowned in rough surf in Orange Beach from Tropical Storm Edouard. He was swimming with family members when he disappeared.
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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 4, 11:30 AM CST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 11:30 AM CST, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1230 PM CDT MON AUG 4 2008 .UPDATE...HAVE CLEANED UP THE MORNING PACKAGE TO REMOVE TEMPORAL WORDING. && .MARINE...WINDS AND SEAS CONTINUE TO SETTLE AND ANTICIPATE NOT EXTENDING THE SCY FOR MARINE AREA. && .AVIATION...BANDED...MOSTLY SHRA WITH MORE AND MORE TSRA MIXED IN...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ONSHORE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO FLIRT WITH IFR LEVELS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. DO NOT ANTICIPATE WIDESPREAD LOW CIGS MOST OF THE AREA...THOUGH A GREATER POSSIBILITY EXITS AT KMOB DUE TO SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW EXPECTED RIDING UP THE RISE OVER MOBILE COUNTY TO THE AIRPORT. && .MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE. GM...NONE. && /16
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 4, 2:15 PM CST, 15 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 315 PM CDT MON AUG 4 2008 ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-GMZ630-650-655-670-675-MSZ067-075-076-078- 079-052015- CHOCTAW-WASHINGTON-CLARKE-WILCOX-MONROE-CONECUH-BUTLER-CRENSHAW- ESCAMBIA-COVINGTON-UPPER MOBILE-UPPER BALDWIN-LOWER MOBILE- LOWER BALDWIN-INLAND ESCAMBIA-COASTAL ESCAMBIA-INLAND SANTA ROSA- COASTAL SANTA ROSA-INLAND OKALOOSA-COASTAL OKALOOSA-MOBILE BAY- COASTAL WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL FROM 20 TO 60 NM-WAYNE-PERRY- GREENE-STONE-GEORGE- 315 PM CDT MON AUG 4 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA...THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE...AND THE GULF COASTAL WATERS OF ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. TROPICAL STORM EDOUARD WILL CONTINUE MOVING WEST ALONG THE LOUISIANA COAST THROUGH TONIGHT. MODERATE SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO EASE...ALONG WITH SEAS...THROUGH TONIGHT. A HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON...MAINLY DUE TO THE HIGHER SEAS. OTHERWISE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AND SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 84 TODAY. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON COULD PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS AROUND 40 MPH AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. FORECASTERS EXPECT AN INCREASED RISK OF DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE GULF BEACHES OF ALABAMA AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE AGAIN ON TUESDAY. THE RIP CURRENT RISK AT AREA BEACHES WILL DIMINISH TO WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS BY WEDNESDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN A POSSIBILITY EACH AFTERNOON THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
Event by event
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
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, Lower Baldwin | 2008-08-04 | 50 | 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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Illinois, August 4 to 5, 2008
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Indiana, August 4, 2008
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Indiana, August 4, 2008
- Excessive Heat in Louisiana, August 4, 2008
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, August 4, 2008
- Tornado and Hail in Iowa, August 4, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, August 4, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 4 to 5, 2008
- Hail and Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, August 4, 2008
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Colorado, August 4, 2008
- Lightning Strikes in Illinois, August 4, 2008
- Hail in Iowa, August 4, 2008
More
Every storm in Alabama in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, August 2008
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: 130841.