Lingering long period swell originating from distant Hurricane Earl well east of the Georgia coast, resulted in numerous rip currents that prompted a significant number of rescues at the beaches in Tybee Island, Georgia.
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 CHS wrote it up.
Lingering long period swell originating from distant Hurricane Earl well east of the Georgia coast, resulted in numerous rip currents that prompted a significant number of rescues at the beaches in Tybee Island, Georgia.
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 Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 2:21 PM EST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 321 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2010 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL STALL OVER OR NEARBY THE LOCAL AREA TONIGHT INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD NORTH OF THE FRONT AND THEN SETTLE SOUTH INTO THE REGION FOR THE MIDDLE AND LATTER PART OF NEXT WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... A WEAK COLD FRONT...WHICH AS OF LATE AFTERNOON IS MORE OF A DEW POINT FRONT NEAR THE NW TIER WILL PUSH RELUCTANTLY SE TONIGHT AND WILL STALL NEAR OR JUST OFF THE COAST OVERNIGHT...AS THE FRONT BECOMES PARALLEL TO THE FLOW ALOFT. BEHIND THE FRONT WE LOOK FOR HIGH PRESSURE IN THE MID MS VALLEY EARLY TO BUILD EASTWARD THROUGH THE OH/TN VALLEYS OVERNIGHT. MOISTURE IS HARD TO COME BY...AND CONFINED MAINLY TO THE UPPER LEVELS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET. BUT THE LOW LEVELS REMAIN EXTREMELY DRY WITH MEAN RH THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT IN THE 1000 TO 500 MB LAYER NO MORE THAN 50 TO 60 PERCENT. WITH EVEN A FEW WEAK SHORT WAVES WITHIN THE WEST AND SW FLOW ALOFT TO TRAVERSE EXTREME SOUTHERN GA AND NORTHERN FL THE FIRST PART OF TONIGHT...THE LACK OF MOISTURE WILL PREVENT ANY RAINFALL OVER LAND AREAS. THERE WILL BE A FEW SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE ISOLATED T-STORMS OVER THE GULF STREAM WHERE LAPSE RATES ARE SLIGHTLY FAVORABLE AND BETTER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS FOUND TO ALLOW FOR LIMITED NOCTURNAL CONVECTION. MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS ACROSS SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SECTIONS EARLY TONIGHT WILL PUSH OFFSHORE OVERNIGHT AS SHORT WAVES AND LIFT FROM UPPER LEVEL JET SHIFTS EAST. THIS WILL RESULT IN SKIES BECOMING CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY FOR THE BULK OF THE NIGHT. BY LATE TONIGHT...A LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE BOUNDARY DEVELOPS AS A NE AND EAST PUSH OF LOW LEVEL WINDS DEVELOP NORTH OF THE FRONT OVER THE CHARLESTON TRI-COUNTY AREA AND PARTS OF COLLETON COUNTY. THIS ALONG WITH SOME ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL ALLOW FOR SOME STRATOCUMULUS TO DEVELOP AND/OR ADVECT IN OFF THE ATLANTIC LATE ACROSS THESE FOUR COUNTIES CLOSER TO DAYBREAK. ANY RISK OF SHOWERS WITH THIS FEATURE IS TOO LOW TO ADD MENTION TO THE FORECAST. TEMPS TONIGHT WILL FALL TO THEIR COOLEST LEVELS IN ABOUT 2 MONTHS...GOING BACK TO THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY. THE 1000-850 MB THICKNESS FALLS TO 1400-1410 METERS...WHILE 850 MB TEMPS DROP TO AROUND 15C NORTH AND 16 OR 17C SOUTH. GEOSTROPHIC WINDS DROP TO 10 KT OR LESS...AND WITH DECREASING CLOUD COVER SUGGESTS THAT RADIATIONAL COOLING FOR BE GOOD. THE END RESULT IS LOWER AND MIDDLE 60S FOR MIN TEMPS ACROSS THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST AREA...WITH EVEN SOME UPPER 50S ALONG THE FAR NW TIER. EVEN COASTAL SECTIONS WILL FALL TO THE LOWER 70S. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY...A BROAD UPPER TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN CONUS WILL SHIFT OFFSHORE MONDAY WHILE AN UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS EAST ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST STATES. THE STRENGTH OF THE RIDGE IS A BIT UNCERTAIN...WITH THE NAM WEAKER THAN THE GFS AS IT INDICATES A STRONGER LOW OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO. AT THE SURFACE...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE CENTERED NORTH OF THE AREA OVER THE OHIO VALLEY ON SUNDAY...THEN SHIFT EASTWARD OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST MONDAY. MEANWHILE...A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG A STALLED OUT FRONT OVER SOUTHEAST GEORGIA SUNDAY WILL WEAKEN AND SHIFT SOUTHWEST AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS NORTH OF THE AREA MONDAY. ALTHOUGH THERE COULD BE SOME SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A FEW STORMS MOVING ONSHORE THROUGH THE PERIOD...PREFER TO MAINTAIN A DRY FORECAST AT THIS POINT. MAX TEMPS WILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL WITH HIGHS GENERALLY UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S...WARMEST MONDAY. HOWEVER...LOWS WILL BE COOLER THAN NORMAL SUNDAY NIGHT DUE TO DECENT RADIATIONAL COOLING BUT RETURN CLOSER TO NORMAL MONDAY NIGHT DUE TO INCREASED LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE. TUESDAY...DEEP LAYER HIGH PRESSURE IN PLACE WILL ALLOW FOR A WARM AND MAINLY DRY DAY. WILL KEEP RAIN CHANCES BELOW 20 PERCENT GIVEN THE PREFERRED STRONGER RIDGING IN THE GFS/ECMWF. HIGHS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE ABOVE NORMAL...RANGING FROM THE LOWER 90S INLAND WITH MID 80S AT THE BEACHES. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY...A BROAD UPPER TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN CONUS WILL SHIFT OFFSHORE MONDAY WHILE AN UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS EAST ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST STATES. THE STRENGTH OF THE RIDGE IS A BIT UNCERTAIN...WITH THE NAM WEAKER THAN THE GFS AS IT INDICATES A STRONGER LOW OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO. AT THE SURFACE...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE CENTERED NORTH OF THE AREA OVER THE OHIO VALLEY ON SUNDAY...THEN SHIFT EASTWARD OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST MONDAY. MEANWHILE...A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG A STALLED OUT FRONT OVER SOUTHEAST GEORGIA SUNDAY WILL WEAKEN AND SHIFT SOUTHWEST AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS NORTH OF THE AREA MONDAY. ALTHOUGH THERE COULD BE SOME SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A FEW STORMS MOVING ONSHORE THROUGH THE PERIOD...PREFER TO MAINTAIN A DRY FORECAST AT THIS POINT. MAX TEMPS WILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL WITH HIGHS GENERALLY UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S...WARMEST MONDAY. HOWEVER...LOWS WILL BE COOLER THAN NORMAL SUNDAY NIGHT DUE TO DECENT RADIATIONAL COOLING BUT RETURN CLOSER TO NORMAL MONDAY NIGHT DUE TO INCREASED LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE. TUESDAY...DEEP LAYER HIGH PRESSURE IN PLACE WILL ALLOW FOR A WARM AND MAINLY DRY DAY. WILL KEEP RAIN CHANCES BELOW 20 PERCENT GIVEN THE PREFERRED STRONGER RIDGING IN THE GFS/ECMWF. HIGHS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE ABOVE NORMAL...RANGING FROM THE LOWER 90S INLAND WITH MID 80S AT THE BEACHES. && .AVIATION /18Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... A DRY COLD FRONT WILL DROP ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. WITH MAINLY WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT...SEABREEZE WILL STRUGGLE TO PROPAGATE INLAND THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL MAKE BACKING OF THE WINDS DIFFICULT...BUT STILL WINDS WILL SLOWLY SHIFT TO THE SOUTHWEST BY EARLY EVENING. DRY CONDITIONS SHOULD KEEP LOW CLOUD COVERAGE LIMITED THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY AT KCHS...ALTHOUGH WILL NEED TO KEEP WATCH FOR AN INCREASE IN STRATOCUMULUS OFF THE ATLANTIC SUNDAY MORNING AROUND 3500-4500 FT. EXPECT SOME CIRRUS TO PERSIST OVERNIGHT...MAINLY ACROSS KSAV. OVERNIGHT WINDS WILL VEER TO THE NORTH THEN NORTHEAST WITH THE PROPAGATION OF THE SEABREEZE MUCH MORE LIKELY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO PREVAIL. && .MARINE... WITH THE COLD FRONT STILL INLAND OVER THE LOCAL AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING...WIND FIELDS WILL BE DRIVEN BY THE SEA BREEZE CIRCULATIONS. THIS ALLOWS FOR SOUTH AND SW WINDS AT 10 KT OR LESS THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT ACROSS THE LOCAL WATERS. AS THE FRONT SLIPS INTO THE COASTAL WATERS OVERNIGHT AND LAND BREEZE CIRCULATIONS DEVELOP...WINDS WILL VEER AROUND TO THE NW AT 10 KT OR LESS. BY LATE TONIGHT...HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING EASTWARD FROM THE OH/TN VALLEYS WILL ALLOW FOR A SUBTLE BUT NOTICEABLE NE PUSH OF WINDS TO DEVELOP ACROSS AMZ350 AS SPEEDS CLIMB TO BETWEEN 10-15 KT ACROSS THE NORTHERNMOST WATERS BETWEEN 09-12Z SUNDAY. MUCH OF THE WAVE ENERGY TONIGHT WILL BE THE RESULT OF A SMALL LINGERING BACK SWELL FROM VERY DISTANT EARL...BUT COMBINED SEAS WILL STILL BE LIMITED TO ONLY 3 OR 4 FT TONIGHT. SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...A WEAKENING FRONT NEAR OR JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA IS EXPECTED TO COMPLETELY DISSIPATE BY TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN CENTERED MAINLY NORTH AND EAST OF THE REGION THROUGH THE PERIOD. THIS WILL KEEP ENE WINDS OF 15 KT OR LESS AND SEAS MAINLY 3 FT OR LESS. ONSHORE FLOW NEAR THE COAST EACH AFTERNOON COULD INCREASE FOR A FEW HOURS TO AROUND 15 KT. RIP CURRENTS...WE WILL MAINTAIN A MARGINAL MODERATE RIP CURRENT RISK THROUGH THIS EVENING...CONSIDERING THAT THERE ARE STILL LINGERING SMALL LONG PERIOD SWELLS OF 2-3 FT EVERY 10-14 SECONDS AT THE BEACHES AND IT IS THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. CONDITIONS ARE STILL MARGINAL AGAIN ON SUNDAY...BUT WITH SMALL SWELLS...A LONGER PERIOD OF ONSHORE WINDS AND SMALL IMPACTS FROM THE UPCOMING FULL MOON WE WILL AGAIN FORECAST A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES. && .FIRE WEATHER... SOUTH CAROLINA FORESTRY OFFICIALS REPORT THAT FAIRLY DRY CONDITIONS ARE IN PLACE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...BASED ON DROUGHT INDICES AND FUEL MOISTURE VALUES. MOST AREAS HAVE NOT SEEN ANY APPRECIABLE RAIN IN ALMOST TWO WEEKS...AND NO RAIN IS EXPECTED THIS LONG HOLIDAY WEEKEND. HOWEVER...WITH WINDS MAINLY LESS THAN 10 OR 15 MPH AND MIN RH VALUES NO LOWER THAN THE UPPER 20S AND LOWER 30S WE DO NOT SEE A NEED FOR A FIRE DANGER STATEMENT AT THIS TIME. EVEN SO...FOR THOSE WITH ANY OUTDOOR COOKING PLANS FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND YOU ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION DUE TO THE DRY CONDITIONS. && .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && 33/44
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 259 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2010 GAZ117-119-139-141-SCZ048>051-050930- COASTAL BRYAN-COASTAL CHATHAM-COASTAL LIBERTY-COASTAL MCINTOSH- BEAUFORT-COASTAL COLLETON-CHARLESTON-COASTAL JASPER- 259 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2010 ...MODERATE RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. MODERATE RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. MODERATE RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. AMZ330-350-352-354-374-GAZ087-088-099>101-114>116-118-137-138-140- SCZ040-042>045-047-052-050930- CHARLESTON HARBOR- WATERS FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER TO EDISTO BEACH SC OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM EDISTO BEACH SC TO SAVANNAH GA OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA OUT 20 NM...INCLUDING GRAYS REEF NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY- WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM-JENKINS-SCREVEN-CANDLER-BULLOCH-EFFINGHAM-TATTNALL-EVANS- INLAND BRYAN-INLAND CHATHAM-LONG-INLAND LIBERTY-INLAND MCINTOSH- ALLENDALE-HAMPTON-INLAND COLLETON-DORCHESTER-INLAND BERKELEY- INLAND JASPER-TIDAL BERKELEY- 259 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS...SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 33
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Tybee Island life guards reported that between 20 and 30 people were rescued from rip currents between 430 pm and 700 pm at the beaches of Tybee Island, Georgia.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, September 2010
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: 254710.