Three swimmers were caught in rip currents at Cocoa Beach. One of the three swimmers was not breathing when brought to shore by life guards, and later died at a local hospital.
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 MLB wrote it up.
Three swimmers were caught in rip currents at Cocoa Beach. One of the three swimmers was not breathing when brought to shore by life guards, and later died at a local hospital.
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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 2:59 PM EST, 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Melbourne FL 359 PM EDT Sat May 5 2018 .DISCUSSION... Tonight...Focus for showers will be over the interior and western side of the peninsula into this evening. The best chance for any lightning should be west of Lake county until sunset where interaction with a west coast sea breeze will occur. A few showers may linger over the interior past sunset as steering flow veers southerly. Model guidance indicates showers redeveloping late tonight across Lake/Volusia counties due to influence from upper trough digging into the northern Gulf of Mexico. Mild temps expected again in the upper 60s and low 70s. Sunday...Lingering surface trough will diminish over the area. Sufficient moisture will combine with better support aloft and a sea breeze to produce a better chance for storms. Convection should initiate across northern sections in the morning then develop across central and southern sections during the afternoon. Storm motion will be toward the northeast so convection will focus on the east side of the peninsula late in the day. Max temps look quite warm across the south half reaching the upper 80s/near 90 with mid 80s across the north due to more clouds and earlier onset of precipitation. Sun Night-Tue Night...Mid-upper level troughing continues across the eastern CONUS over much of this period with occasional mid- level impulses traversing the FL peninsula. At the surface, a weak frontal boundary over north-central FL will move into central FL Sun evening, then through most of the coverage warning area overnight. Ongoing convection from deep moisture, instability, shortwave energy aloft and boundary collisions will gradually move toward the east coast and venture out across the coastal waters. Precipitation will continue into late night with highest chances near the coast and south from the Cape. Lightning, gusty winds, and locally heavy downpours will be the main threats. The front will wash out across south FL late in the day on Mon. NW/N flow behind this latest boundary will quickly veer to NE during the day on Mon with a seabreeze pushing inland. Some lingering moisture and diurnal heating may promote an isolated shower along the seabreeze and mainly south of Orlando as drier air will be in place northward. A late day or early evening seabreeze collision over the central peninsula may also ignite a shower or two; again mainly southward. Moisture remains rather unimpressive on Tue, though persistent onshore flow, afternoon heating, cooler air and some energy aloft could allow for some isolated convection during the day. For max temps, increasing onshore flow will nudge coastal numbers back to the L-M80s Mon-Tue. Mins generally well into the 60s inland, and L70s along the immediate coast. Wed-Sat (previous)...Mid level trough near the mid Atlantic Coast will lift out to the northeast through late week, with the flow aloft becoming flat/zonal. The weak surface trough lingering near/offshore SEFL will dissipate, as a fairly strong Atlantic high pressure ridge builds into Florida in its wake. Rain chances look minimal to nil Wednesday-Thursday. Moisture and rain chances may increase late in the week as low level flow veers more to the SE. Max temps in the M80s along the coast and U80s inland. Mins in the U60s to around 70F. && .AVIATION... Mainly VFR conditions forecast tonight and into Sunday morning, with occasional IFR conditions as showers move across the area. A thunderstorm or two is possible across the interior this afternoon, thus have included VCTS at KLEE, but kept VCSH at all other terminals through at least sunset. Kept prevailing VCSH at KSUA due to possible showers developing along the coast overnight. An MVFR deck may develop across the interior terminals and KDAB after 06/06Z. However, current confidence is too low to include this as a TEMPO group, thus I reserved to keep a prevailing SCT015 deck. Forecasting widespread showers to develop across the area after 06/14Z, so I have included VCSH at all terminals with BKN035 deck. Included VCTS after 06/20Z at KMCO for possible thunderstorms and this will probably be expanded to the coastal terminals as steering flow will be back toward the east coast. && .MARINE... Tonight...Surface trough oriented N/NE continues to push west across south FL and our southern waters this afternoon. The trough axis will stall and weaken over the FL peninsula tonight. South southwest winds will increase near 15 knots over the offshore waters on the east side of the axis. With seas holding near 6 ft, will maintain a Caution for the offshore waters. Sunday...S/SW flow will become SE 10-15 knots near the coast in the afternoon in a sea breeze south of the Cape. A lighter E/NE wind 5-10 knots should develop north of the Cape. Rain chances will remain high with a good chance for storms moving offshore esp late in the afternoon. Seas 3-5 feet. Sun Night-Thu...Southerly flow will veer SWRLY then W/NW overnight as a frontal boundary presses southward down the peninsula. Offshore moving showers and storms continue Sun night. Winds quickly become NERLY again on Mon, then veer more ERLY Wed overnight into Thu. Wind speeds generally AOB 15 kts during this time. Seas generally in the 3-5FT range. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DAB 70 84 67 85 / 20 60 30 20 MCO 70 88 67 89 / 20 60 30 10 MLB 73 89 68 86 / 20 60 50 20 VRB 72 89 69 87 / 20 60 50 20 LEE 70 87 67 89 / 30 50 20 10 SFB 70 87 68 89 / 20 60 30 10 ORL 70 88 69 89 / 20 60 30 10 FPR 71 89 67 87 / 20 60 50 20 && .MLB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. AM...None. && SHORT TERM...Kelly MID TERM.....Sedlock AVIATION/LONG TERM...Rodriguez
Hazardous Weather Outlook...Updated National Weather Service Melbourne FL 1052 AM EDT Sat May 5 2018 AMZ550-552-555-570-572-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141- 144-147-052300- Flagler Beach to Volusia-Brevard County Line 0-20 nm-Volusia- Brevard County Line to Sebastian Inlet 0-20 nm- Sebastian Inlet to Jupiter Inlet 0-20 nm-Flagler Beach to Volusia- Brevard County Line 20-60 nm-Volusia- Brevard County Line to Sebastian Inlet 20-60 nm- Sebastian Inlet to Jupiter Inlet 20-60 nm-Inland Volusia County- Northern Lake County-Orange-Seminole-Southern Brevard County- Osceola-Indian River-Okeechobee-St. Lucie-Martin- Coastal Volusia County-Southern Lake County- Northern Brevard County- 1052 AM EDT Sat May 5 2018 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .THUNDERSTORM IMPACT... Deep moisture overspreading the region will generate scattered to numerous showers across the area today. Isolated thunderstorms will also be possible, mainly across interior areas, west of I-95 this afternoon. Main threat from any storms that can develop will be dangerous lightning strikes, brief gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall. .RIP CURRENT IMPACT... A Moderate risk of rip currents will exist along the beaches of east central Florida today. Check with ocean rescue personnel on the latest surf conditions when arriving at the beach, and always swim near a lifeguard. .WIND AND SEA IMPACT... Poor boating conditions continue over much of the coastal waters. Small craft should Exercise Caution for seas building up to 6 feet this afternoon. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. Poor boating conditions with seas up to 6 feet will continue offshore, north of Sebastian Inlet into Sunday morning. A Moderate risk of life-threatening rip currents will also persist through late weekend. Lingering deep moisture will keep rain chances high into Sunday, with scattered thunderstorms possible into the afternoon. Main storm threats will continue to be dangerous lightning strikes, brief gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today. Weitlich/Sedlock
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
Local media reported that three swimmers who were caught in rip currents at Cocoa Beach, just north of the International Palms Resort. Life guards were able to rescue the three people, however, one of them, a woman in her mid 40s from Oklahoma was not breathing when brought to shore. The woman was transported to a local hospital where she later 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, Brevard | 2018-05-05 | 45 | Female | 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, May 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: 745602.