Rip Currents in North Carolina, October 7 to 8, 2017

Name: Rip Currents in North Carolina, October 7 to 8, 2017
Start: 2017-10-07T06:00
End: 2017-10-08T19:00
Location: North Carolina

October 7 to 8, 2017 · NWS ILM · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Strong onshore wind and swell produced strong rip currents.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 ILM wrote it up.

Strong onshore wind and swell produced strong rip currents.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Coastal New Hanover

When: October 7, 6:00 AM EST to October 8, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Coastal New Hanover forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Lifeguard
Coordinates: 34.181, -77.866 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong rip currents caused 20 rip related rescues, with one fatality. The fatality occurred about a quarter mile north of the Crystal Pier around 5 pm. The 52 year woman was pulled from the water by bystanders and family members and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rip Current, Coastal New Hanover

When: October 7, 6:00 AM EST to October 8, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Coastal New Hanover forecast zone
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Lifeguard
Coordinates: 34.181, -77.866 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong rip currents caused two fatalities. The incident occurred near the Dolphin Lane beach access. Witnesses urged two good Samaritans to enter the water and rescue a father and child that were caught in a rip current. The two men never made it back to shore and were retrieved by fishermen in boats. The men were never revived and were pronounced dead at the scene. One man was 60 years old from Eagle Springs, NC, the other was 53 from Clayton, NC. The father and child were successfully 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.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Rip Current, Coastal New Hanover	2017-10-07	52	Female	In Water	Direct
Rip Current, Coastal New Hanover	2017-10-07	60	Male	In Water	Direct
Rip Current, Coastal New Hanover	2017-10-07	53	Male	In Water	Direct

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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2017 Every state in 2017 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, October 2017

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 724207, 724208.