High winds and a spring tidal cycle combined to generate very rough surf at area beaches.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 MOB wrote it up.
High winds and a spring tidal cycle combined to generate very rough surf at area beaches.
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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 24, 2:35 PM CST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Mobile AL 335 PM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018 .NEAR TERM /Now Through Sunday/...At this time, a strong shortwave is diving southeast along the leading edge of an upper ridge moving east over the Plains. This shortwave is pushing a surface boundary towards the forecast area and in combination with a slowly eastward moving surface high over the Florida peninsula, is creating a tighter than expecting pressure gradient across the forecast area and bringing breezy conditions to the area. As the pushing shortwave moves off tonight and the pressure gradient eases, the southerly flow will also ease, but remain strong enough when working in combination with moist flow off the Gulf to keep skies cloudy overnight. At this point, with respect to the weak front moving towards the area, with the southerly flow working against its southward movement, am not expecting it to come close enough to bring any shra to the area overnight. For overnight temps, with the flow off the Gulf and increasing subsidence as the upper ridge over the Plains moves closer, lows well above seasonal are expected. Am not expecting any fog to develop tonight, with winds remaining strong enough to mix any fog trying to develop out. Sunday, the Plains ridge moves closer as a shortwave moves through the ridge over the Lower Mississippi River Valley. This piece of energy is expected to pass close enough when working with the boundary left near northern parts of the forecast area tonight to bring a chance of precip to mainly the northern half of the forecast area. Enough instability is indicated to be present for thunderstorms to mix in, but am not seeing enough instability nor upper support for any strong to severe storms. Winds become more westerly as a system off the Northeast coast pushes a front towards the area from the northeast, pushing the Florida peninsula surface high southward. With the westerly flow and an approaching upper ridge, temps well above seasonal expected again, but am not expecting any records to be broken with records for the KMOB and KPNS both being in the mid 80s. /16 .SHORT TERM /Sunday night Through Tuesday night/...Upper ridging from the Gulf into the Great Lakes will promote strengthening high pressure east of the Appalachians by Sunday night. This will send a backdoor cold front into the area and it is expected to be through the eastern half of the area by Monday morning. The front will likely stall during the day Monday due to daytime heating and then push further west across the forecast area Monday night. Cannot rule out some scattered showers/isolated storm early Sunday evening and a small chance of rain with the front through Monday. Any forcing will be very shallow along the front with forecast soundings showing strong capping at or just above 850mb. Temp forecast is tricky and there are likely to be some significant differences from warmer western parts of the area (ahead of the front) and cooler eastern areas behind the front where low clouds will be predominate. Used a blend of guidance to account for this. Currently expecting a 10-20 degree difference in highs across the CWA Monday. This front washes out on Tuesday with moderating temperatures and low chances for any precip given the mid to upper level ridging persisting aloft. Cannot completely rule out a light, passing shower due to increasing low level warm air advection. 34/JFB .LONG TERM /Wednesday Through Saturday/...Upper ridging will gradually shift east from mid to late week as abundant shortwave energy moves into the central states. The progression of the upper flow will be fairly slow though due to a large upper trough closing off over the northwest Atlantic during this time. Therefore, a cold front front stretching from the Ohio Valley to east Texas on Wednesday will be slow to push eastward. There are timing differences on when exactly the front will begin to push east. The GFS is more progressive than the ECMWF and its ensemble mean as the ECMWF shows a surface low developing along the front in response to stronger shortwave over TX. Our best rain chances will likely be Thursday into Thursday night as this is the most likely time the front will move into the area. Guidance is showing a large degree of the deep layer forcing is post frontal, so we're currently expecting the bulk of the rain to be along and after frontal passage. At this point, some rain could linger into Friday morning across the eastern zones, but drier air will move in from west to east during the day. Temps will trend back toward seasonal levels with lower humidity for the end of the week into the beginning of the weekend. There is a lot of uncertainty on the extent of any severe weather threat on Thursday along and ahead of the front. The latest ECMWF has come in more vigorous with low level wind fields and instability ahead of the front due to the aforementioned surface wave that develops. However, there has not been enough consistency to pinpoint any threats, plus we are still several days out. We will continue to monitor the potential for strong/severe storms very carefully. 34/JFB && .MARINE...A tight pressure gradient will ease tonight as a passing shortwave moves off. Winds are expected to become strong again Monday as a front, moving over the area from the northeast, works with a weakening surface low over the Florida peninsula to bring moderate to strong easterly flow to area coastal waters. Winds will shift to southeast, then south through the week as the surface high behind the backdoor front moves south along the coast, until a front moves over area coastal waters late Thursday into Thursday night. Guidance is indicating winds remaining moderate to strong through the week. /16 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Mobile 64 81 62 73 58 73 64 79 / 10 10 10 20 10 20 20 30 Pensacola 65 79 62 70 58 72 64 76 / 10 10 10 20 10 20 0 20 Destin 67 72 62 68 59 71 63 74 / 10 10 20 20 10 10 0 10 Evergreen 62 81 57 65 52 74 60 80 / 10 30 20 20 10 10 0 20 Waynesboro 62 82 60 72 55 72 63 79 / 10 30 20 20 10 20 20 50 Camden 61 81 56 64 52 72 61 79 / 10 40 20 20 10 10 10 30 Crestview 62 82 58 68 54 74 59 78 / 10 10 20 20 10 0 0 10 && .MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. FL...None. MS...None. GM...None. && This product is also available on the web at: http://weather.gov/mob
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Mobile AL 514 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018 ALZ051>060-261>266-FLZ201>206-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-251015- Choctaw-Washington-Clarke-Wilcox-Monroe-Conecuh-Butler-Crenshaw- Escambia-Covington-Mobile Inland-Baldwin Inland-Mobile Central- Baldwin Central-Mobile Coastal-Baldwin Coastal-Escambia Inland- Escambia Coastal-Santa Rosa Inland-Santa Rosa Coastal- Okaloosa Inland-Okaloosa Coastal-Wayne-Perry-Greene-Stone-George- 514 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Alabama, southwest Alabama, northwest Florida and southeast Mississippi. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Moderate risk for rip currents tonight along Alabama and northwest Florida beaches. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. Moderate risk for rip currents Sunday through early next week along Alabama and northwest Florida beaches. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. GMZ630>636-650-655-670-675-251015- Northern Mobile Bay-Southern Mobile Bay-Mississippi Sound- Perdido Bay-Pensacola Bay System-Western Choctawhatchee Bay- Eastern Choctawhatchee Bay- Coastal waters from Pensacola FL to Pascagoula MS out 20 NM- Coastal waters from Okaloosa Walton County Line FL to Pensacola FL out 20 NM-Waters from Pensacola FL to Pascagoula MS from 20 to 60 NM- Waters from Okaloosa Walton County Line FL to Pensacola FL from 20 to 60 NM- 514 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the coastal waters of Alabama and northwest Florida. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Hazardous conditions for small craft expected today and tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. Hazardous conditions for small craft expected Monday through midweek.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Local man died attempting to rescue children in a rip current on Navarre Beach.
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, Santa Rosa Coastal | 2018-03-24 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, March 2018
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: 737542.