North Carolina, 2016

Rip Current in North Carolina, October 13, 2016

October 13, 2016 · NWS MHX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Long period swells from Hurricane Nicole led to increased threat for rip currents and dangerous shore break. From the Outer Banks Sentinel newspaper, The body of a 17-year-old who died in rip currents on Oct.

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 MHX wrote it up.

Long period swells from Hurricane Nicole led to increased threat for rip currents and dangerous shore break. From the Outer Banks Sentinel newspaper, The body of a 17-year-old who died in rip currents on Oct. 13 was found Sunday evening, Oct. 16. According to the National Park Service, a visitor reported finding the body of the missing 17-year-old about 20 yards north of Avon Pier. He had been swimming with a 16-year-old friend when they were pulled into the ocean off the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach in Waves. The 16-year-old was able to safely return to the beach and was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 13, 2:31 PM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 13, 2:31 PM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 13, 4:12 AM EST, 11 hours 48 minutes before
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Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Eastern Dare

When
October 13, 4:00 PM EST
Where
Eastern Dare forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Broadcast Media

A 17 yr old male drowned in a rip current in Avon, NC. The victim was vacationing from Indiana.

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, Eastern Dare2016-10-1317MaleIn 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 North Carolina in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, October 2016

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 666248.