High pressure off the North Carolina coast produced a long period swell on the east coast of Florida. This created frequent rip currents that resulted in two fatalities and hundreds rip current rescues.
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.
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 MLB wrote it up.
High pressure off the North Carolina coast produced a long period swell on the east coast of Florida. This created frequent rip currents that resulted in two fatalities and hundreds rip current rescues.
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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 26, 12:55 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 155 PM EDT MON MAY 26 2008 .DISCUSSION... ...ELEVATED RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS INTO MID WEEK... TONIGHT...SFC HIGH PRESSURE CENTER WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE WRN ATLC OVERNIGHT WITH BOTH THE NAM AND GFS ADVECTING A BAND OF HIGHER MOISTURE TWD E CENTRAL FL IN EASTERLY LOW LVL FLOW. CURRENT VSBL SATELLITE IMAGERY HAS AN ENHANCED BAND OF CLOUDINESS NEARING 78 W THAT THE MODELS MAY BE PICKING UP ON. WILL INSERT A LESS THAN 20 PCT SHOWER CHC TO CSTL VOLUSIA NRN BREVARD LATE TONIGHT WITH THIS FEATURE. TUE...ANOTHER DAY WITH ONSHORE FLOW AND VERY DRY AIRMASS IN PLACE ABOVE H7. NAM/GFS PROG SOME ENHANCED MOISTURE TO WORK INLAND ACROSS NRN SECTIONS IN THE MORNING BELOW H7 AND WILL INSERT A SMALL MORNING CSTL POP...WITH A 15 PCT CHC OF A LIGHT SHOWER ALONG THE COASTAL COUNTIES. OTHERWISE...HIGHS SHOULD BE SIMILIAR TO MONDAY ARND 80/LWR 80S COAST TO MID 80S INTERIOR. AN ELEVATED RIP CURRENT THREAT IS EXPECTED AT THE BEACHES WITH ENE SWELLS. WED-SAT...BROAD UPR RIDGING OVER THE PLAINS AT MIDWEEK WILL SLOWLY MIGRATE EWD ACROSS THE MS VALLEY THROUGH FRIDAY. THE AXIS OF THE RIDGE IS EXPECTED TO BECOME CENTERED ALONG THE APPALACHIANS BY EARLY SAT. SFC FLOW ACROSS THE AREA WL EXHIBIT A WEAKLY ONSHORE COMPONENT MAGNIFIED EACH AFTERNOON BY DEVELOPMENT OF A SEA BREEZE. PREVAILING EAST COMPONENT WL KEEP OVERALL MOISTURE VALUES ON THE LOW SIDE THROUGH FRIDAY AND POPS WL REMAIN SILENT WED/THU WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LOW TOPPED PRECIP PSBL BY FRI AS AIRMASS BEGINS TO MOISTEN UNDERNEATH RETREATING SFC RIDGE. SUN-MON...SE FETCH SHOWS A MODEST INCREASE EARLY NEXT WEEK AND THIS WL INCREASE PWAT VALUES ENOUGH TO SHOW AN INCREASING LIKELIHOOD OF DIURNAL SHOWERS/STORMS CLOSER TO WET SEASON CLIMO RANGE. LIGHT GRADIENT FLOW IN AN APPARENT COL REGION LEANS TOWARD PREVALENCE OF BOUNDARY DRIVEN AFTN CONVECTION. POP VALUES IN MID RANGE SCT TO COVER THIS SCENARIO. && .AVIATION...GUSTY WINDS TO 18-22 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON. HAVE INSERTED A VCSH TO CSTL TERMINALS LATE TONIGHT AND TUE MORNING WITH ISOLD -SHRA PSBL APPROACING THE COAST FROM THE ATLC...MAIN AFFECT WOULD PROBABLY BE SOME LCL MVFR CIGS. && .MARINE...EAST WINDS AROUND 15 KNOTS THIS EVENING WILL DECREASE TO 10-15 KNOTS BY TUESDAY. SEAS TO AROUND 5 FT OFFSHORE WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TO AROUND 4 FT BY LATE TUE. WILL CONTINUE SCEC ACROSS THE SRN OFFSHORE MARINE ZONES INTO THIS EVENING. WED-SUN...DECREASING SEA/SWELL THROUGH MIDWEEK WITH LIGHTENING OF GRADIENT ONSHORE FLOW. MAINLY WIND WAVE EXPECTED WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER ONSHORE WINDS GUSTING TO 15 KT EACH AFTN NEAR THE COAST WITH DEVELOPMENT OF ECSB. MARINE BASED SHOWERS TO ENTER THE PICTURE BY FRI OVER THE SOUTHERN SEGMENTS AS MOISTURE INCREASES OVER THE REGION. && .FIRE WEATHER...MIN RHS TO AROUND 40 PCT ACROSS WELL INTERIOR SECTIONS THE NEXT TWO DAYS WITH NO WWA/S NECESSARY AT THIS TIME. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DAB 64 82 67 83 / 20 20 10 10 MCO 66 86 67 87 / 0 10 0 10 MLB 69 82 68 82 / 10 20 10 10 VRB 67 82 69 84 / 10 20 10 10 && .MLB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. AM...NONE. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION...VOLKMER LONG TERM....PENDERGRAST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 934 AM EDT MON MAY 26 2008 AMZ550-552-555-570-572-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141- 144-147-262145- COASTAL WATERS FROM FLAGLER BEACH TO VOLUSIA BREVARD COUNTY LINE OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM VOLUSIA BREVARD COUNTY LINE TO SEBASTIAN INLET OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM SEBASTIAN INLET TO JUPITER INLET OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM FLAGLER BEACH TO VOLUSIA BREVARD COUNTY LINE 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- WATERS FROM VOLUSIA BREVARD COUNTY LINE TO SEBASTIAN INLET 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- WATERS FROM SEBASTIAN INLET TO JUPITER INLET 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- INLAND VOLUSIA-NORTHERN LAKE-ORANGE-SEMINOLE-SOUTHERN BREVARD- OSCEOLA-INDIAN RIVER-OKEECHOBEE-ST. LUCIE-MARTIN-COASTAL VOLUSIA- SOUTHERN LAKE-NORTHERN BREVARD- 934 AM EDT MON MAY 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ...RIP CURRENT IMPACT... A NORTHEAST SWELL WILL IMPACT THE EAST FLORIDA BEACHES TODAY... RESULTING IN A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. THE RISK WILL BE HIGHEST DURING THE OUTGOING TIDE...WHICH WILL OCCUR BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON AND 7 PM THIS EVENING. CHECK CONDITIONS WITH LOCAL BEACH PATROL BEFORE VENTURING INTO THE WATER AND ALWAYS SWIM WITHIN SIGHT OF A LIFEGUARD. ALSO...A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST WILL GENERATE BREEZY EAST WINDS WHICH WILL CAUSE SURF CONDITIONS TO BE SOMEWHAT ROUGHER THAN NORMAL. CHILDREN SHOULD NOT WADE FAR INTO THE SURF DUE TO THE BREAKING WAVES THAT ARE EXPECTED. ...WIND AND SEA IMPACT... EAST WINDS TO 15 TO 20 KNOTS OVER THE OPEN ATLANTIC WATERS WILL BUILD SEAS TO 4 TO 5 FEET NEAR SHORE AND UP TO 6 FEET OFFSHORE. SMALL CRAFT OPERATORS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN VENTURING FAR FROM THE IMMEDIATE COAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. AN ELEVATED RIP CURRENT THREAT WILL PERSIST THROUGH MIDWEEK AS A NORTHEASTERLY SWELL IMPACTS THE EAST FLORIDA COAST. AN INCREASE IN DEEP LEVEL MOISTURE COUPLED WITH AN ONSHORE FLOW WILL PROMOTE A LOW THREAT FOR LIGHTNING STORMS BY LATE IN THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. VOLKMER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A 15 year old male drowned in a rip current at New Smyrna Beach. The Volusia County beach patrol reported over 200 people rescued from rip currents during this period.
A 49 year old man drowned in a rip current at Hutchinson Island while rescuing his son from the rip current.
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 Volusia County | 2008-05-26 | 15 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Martin | 2008-05-26 | 49 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 2008
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: 102872, 102875.