Strong east winds continued to bring rough seas and rip currents to all Atlantic beaches during the end of the month. Several swimmers were caught in a rip current off the Palm Beach County coast, resulting in several injuries.
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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 MFL wrote it up.
Strong east winds continued to bring rough seas and rip currents to all Atlantic beaches during the end of the month. Several swimmers were caught in a rip current off the Palm Beach County coast, resulting in several injuries.
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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 29, 3:04 PM EST, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Miami FL
404 PM EDT Sat Apr 29 2017
.DISCUSSION...
High Pressure will remain over the western Atlantic waters tonight
into Sunday night, as a low pressure system moves slowly
northeast through the Central United States. This will keep a
tight pressure gradient over South Florida with breezy to windy
easterly winds. There could also be a few showers over the east
coast and the Atlantic waters through Sunday night. Therefore, a
slight chance of showers have been added to the east coast metro
areas and the Atlantic waters through Sunday night.
The aforementioned high will then weaken early next week over the
western Atlantic waters, as the low over the central United
States moves northeast into the Great Lakes. This will allow for a
cold front over the central states to move southward into the
southeastern United States. The winds will be more southerly
allowing for some deeper moisture to work into the area from the
south. Therefore, the threat of thunderstorms is still possible
over the interior areas along with scattered showers, and only a
slight chance of showers along the metro areas.
The strong easterly wind flow will also allow for near record
highs over the west coast metro areas of South Florida on Sunday.
More on this in the climate section below.
.EXTENDED FORECAST...
The high will continue to weaken over the western Atlantic Waters
late this week, as the cold front over the Southeastern United
States moves southward and washes out over South Florida by early
next weekend. The moisture associated with the front will be
mostly gone by that time, as the front gets into South Florida.
Therefore, there will only be a low-end chance of showers over
South Florida late this week.
&&
.MARINE...
The winds will be easterly around 20 knots over most of South
Florida waters tonight into Sunday, except for the the near-shore
Gulf waters and Lake Okeechobee waters where the speeds will be 15
to 20 knots. This will allow for the seas in the Atlantic waters
to be up to 6 feet, while the Gulf waters remain below 6 feet
through Sunday. Therefore, an SCA is in place for the Atlantic,
offshore Gulf, and Biscayne Bay waters through at least Sunday.
There is also a SCEC in place for the near-shore Gulf and Lake
Okeechobee Water through Sunday.
&&
.BEACH FORECAST...
The breezy to windy easterly wind flow will also allow for the
continuation of the High Risk of Rip Currents through Sunday
night.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
The relative humidity over the west coast metro areas and inland
areas of Collier County should fall into the mid to upper 30s
Sunday afternoon, as the 20 foot winds should be around 10 to 15
mph. Therefore, a Fire Weather Watch has been issued for the
interior and metro areas of Collier County for Sunday Afternoon.
&&
.CLIMATE...
The high temperature at Naples today got up to 95 degrees which
broke the old record of 92 degrees set in 1996 and tied the all-
time high for the month of April which was set back in April 14,
1965. The high temperature for Sunday at Naples is 93 degrees and
the record for Sunday is 93 degrees set in 1991.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
West Palm Beach 77 86 77 86 / 20 20 20 20
Fort Lauderdale 79 85 79 85 / 20 20 20 20
Miami 78 86 78 86 / 20 20 20 20
Naples 72 93 72 91 / 10 10 10 20
&&
.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...Fire Weather Watch from Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening
for FLZ069-070.
High Rip Current Risk through Monday morning for FLZ168-172-173.
AM...Small Craft Advisory until 2 AM EDT Monday for AMZ630-650-651-
670-671.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 11 AM EDT Sunday for GMZ676.
&&
54/BNBHazardous Weather Outlook for South Florida National Weather Service Miami FL 403 PM EDT Sat Apr 29 2017 AMZ610-630-650-651-670-671-FLZ063-066>075-168-172>174-GMZ656-657-676- 300815- Lake Okeechobee-Biscayne Bay- Coastal waters from Jupiter Inlet to Deerfield Beach FL out 20 NM- Coastal waters from Deerfield Beach to Ocean Reef FL out 20 NM- Waters from Jupiter Inlet to Deerfield Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM- Waters from Deerfield Beach to Ocean Reef FL from 20 to 60 NM excluding the territorial waters of Bahamas-Glades-Hendry- Inland Palm Beach-Metro Palm Beach-Coastal Collier-Inland Collier- Inland Broward-Metro Broward-Inland Miami-Dade-Metro Miami-Dade- Mainland Monroe-Coastal Palm Beach-Coastal Broward-Coastal Miami- Dade-Far South Miami-Dade- Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM- Coastal waters from East Cape Sable to Chokoloskee FL out 20 NM- Waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM- 403 PM EDT Sat Apr 29 2017 ...High Risk Of Rip Currents Atlantic Beaches Through The Weekend... This hazardous weather outlook is for South Florida. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT Rip currents: There is a high risk of rip currents along the Southeast Florida Atlantic beaches today and tonight. Swimming is not recommended. Heed the advise of the beach patrol. Wind: Winds of 15 to 20 knots will increase to 20 to 25 knots with higher gusts tonight. Small craft advisory is in effect for Atlantic waters for the weekend. Small crafts are advised to remain in port. Waves: Waves of 4 to 6 feet and occasionally higher will impact the Atlantic waters through the period. This will result in hazardous conditions for small crafts. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY The high risk of rip currents will persist through early in the week before subsiding as well as the hazardous marine conditions across the Atlantic waters. Conditions should gradually improve as the week progresses. A slight chance to a chance of mainly daytime thunderstorms will develop for the mainland starting on Monday and lasting through much of the week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation activation is not anticipated, however individual spotters are encouraged to report high wind, hail and flooding to the National Weather Service forecast office in Miami. For more information...visit the National Weather Service in Miami website at www.weather.gov/miami.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Three swimmers were caught in a rip current and reported to have been pulled about 50 feet seaward along the coast in South Palm Beach County. Five firefighters were able to rescue the swimmers after about 40 minutes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 2017
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: 692707.