California, 2010

Rip Current in California, October 25, 2010

October 25, 2010 · NWS MTR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An early storm for the season caused ocean waves to rise above ten feet leading to sets of higher waves washing onto area beaches. Also, stronger rip currents were occurring because of the enhanced wave action.

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.

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The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
1
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 MTR wrote it up.

An early storm for the season caused ocean waves to rise above ten feet leading to sets of higher waves washing onto area beaches. Also, stronger rip currents were occurring because of the enhanced wave action.

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.

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 24, 3:57 PM PST, 23 hours 3 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast

When
October 25, 3:00 PM PST to 3:30 PM PST
Where
Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
36.240, -121.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two women were swept into the ocean by a sneaker wave at Carmel River Beach and taken out to sea by a rip current around 3:15 p.m. PST. One woman perished in the ocean and the other was rescued.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Rip Current, Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast2010-10-2563FemaleIn WaterDirect

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

More

Every storm in California in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in California, October 2010

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 266263.