California, 2014Rip Current in California, May 29, 2014
May 29, 2014 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone
Seven swimmers were caught in a rip current off of Moonlight Beach around 1320 PST on the 29th. Five of them were students from a school in Solana Beach and found the two others, a Guatamalan man and his nephew.
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- Deaths
- 2
- 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.
Seven swimmers were caught in a rip current off of Moonlight Beach around 1320 PST on the 29th. Five of them were students from a school in Solana Beach and found the two others, a Guatamalan man and his nephew. The man and his nephew were found unconscious and pulled to shore by lifeguards and taken to a local hospital. The nephew, age 17, later died on June 2. His uncle, age 39, eventually died June 14 after two weeks on life support. Surf conditions were 2 to 3 feet at intervals of 10 to 12 seconds along the San Diego County coast that afternoon.
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 San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 29, 12:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 29, 12:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
130 PM PDT THU MAY 29 2014
.SYNOPSIS...
A NIGHT AND MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WITH MOSTLY SUNNY AFTERNOONS
PATTERN WILL CONTINUE OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK AS A WEAK TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES OVER THE AREA.
AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL MOST AREAS.
ONSHORE FLOW WILL RESULT IN BREEZY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WIND
CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS. LITTLE CHANGE THROUGH
THE MIDDLE OF THE COMING WEEK...THEN A WARMING TREND WILL BE
POSSIBLE AT THE END OF NEXT WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND.
&&
.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTIES...
THE STRATUS CLEARED NICELY AFTER EXTENDING INTO THE VALLEY AREAS
OVERNIGHT. THERE IS LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED INTO TOMORROW BASED ON
THE LATEST BUFKIT SOUNDING DATA CONCERNING THE HEIGHT OF THE MARINE
LAYER. THE WRF LOW LEVEL WINDS SHOW THE EDDY DYING BY TOMORROW...
WHICH COULD ALSO MODIFY THE MARINE LAYER DEPTH. THE BASIC PLAN IS
SLIGHTLY LESS INLAND EXTENT OVERNIGHT TONIGHT.
THE TROUGHING SHOULD CONTINUE IN THE WEST FOR SEASONABLE WEATHER
CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA. THIS SHOULD BE THE CASE THROUGH THE MIDDLE
OF NEXT WEEK AS THERE SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE A TROUGH IN THE AREA
KEEPING CONDITIONS NEAR NORMAL.
ENSEMBLE DATA SHOWS SIGNIFICANT DEVIATION FROM THE DETERMINISTIC
MODELS BY LATE NEXT WEEK AND CLOSING IN ON THE FOLLOWING
WEEKEND...BUT OVERALL IT WILL PROBABLY BE WARMER THAT WEEKEND THAN
WHAT IS EXPECTED FOR THIS WEEKEND MOST AREAS.
&&
.AVIATION...
291946Z...COAST/VALLEYS...THROUGH 30/0200 UTC...FEW-SCT CLDS AOA
20000 FT MSL AND UNRESTRICTED VIS...ALTHOUGH SCT-BKN CLDS 1500-2200
FT MSL WILL LIKELY LINGER WITHIN 3 SM OF THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY COAST
THIS AFTERNOON. 30/0200-0600 UTC...STRATUS MOVING BACK INLAND 15-20
SM AND EVENTUALLY FILLING IN 20-35 SM INLAND BY 30/1400 UTC. BASES
WILL BE 1200-1600 FT MSL WITH TOPS OF 2200-2500 FT MSL AND AREAS OF
VIS 2-5 SM. MODERATE TO HIGH CONFIDENCE IN TIMING OF STRATUS ARRIVAL
AND BASE HEIGHTS FOR KSAN...KCRQ AND KSNA. MODERATE CONFIDENCE IN
STRATUS REACHING KONT AFTER 20/1100 UTC. CLEARING OF STRATUS
30/1400-1700 UTC.
MTNS/DESERTS...UNRESTRICTED VIS AND FEW-SCT CLDS AOA 20000 FT MSL
THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
&&
.MARINE...
1246 PM...NO HAZARDOUS MARINE WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY
&&
.SKYWARN...
SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED. HOWEVER WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
&&
.SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC...SMALL
AVIATION/MARINE...HARRISON
Rip Current, San Diego County Coastal Areas
- When
- May 29, 1:00 PM PST to 2:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County Coastal Areas forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Fire Department/Rescue
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lifeguards started a mass rescue when seven people got caught in a rip current at the northern end of Moonlight Beach around 1310 PST on the 29th, according to Encinitas Fire officials. Five students found a Guatemalan man and his nephew unconscious and kept them afloat until lifeguards arrived to pull them to shore where they were taken to a local hospital. Both eventually died, the man on June 2 and the nephew June 14. The five students were unharmed.
- 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.
- Lightning Strike in Florida, May 29, 20141 death · 1 injured · 1 event
- Flash Flood and Hail in South Dakota, May 29, 2014$150,000 · 1.75 in hail · 12 events
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 29, 2014$250,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, May 29, 2014$92,000 · 7 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 29, 20141 injured · $30,000 · 1 in hail · 7 events
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, May 29, 2014$40,000 · 1 event
- Hail in North Dakota, May 29, 2014$25,000 · 1.75 in hail · 7 events
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Wyoming, May 29, 20143 injured · 1 in hail · 2 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 29, 2014$7,000 · 1.75 in hail · 11 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 29, 2014$6,000 · 1.75 in hail · 9 events
- Hail and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 29, 2014$2,000 · 1 in hail · 5 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 29, 20141 in hail · 4 events
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: 522678.