A prolonged onshore wind resulted in moderate to strong rip currents from May 20th through Memorial Day. Numerous water rescues were made in the Orange Beach area through this time, with 2 people transported to the hospital and 1 fatality.
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.
A prolonged onshore wind resulted in moderate to strong rip currents from May 20th through Memorial Day. Numerous water rescues were made in the Orange Beach area through this time, with 2 people transported to the hospital and 1 fatality.
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 May 27, 2:55 PM CST, 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Mobile AL 355 PM CDT Mon May 27 2019 ...HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS... .NEAR TERM /Now Through Tuesday/...Surface and mid/upper ridging will continue across forecast area through Tuesday. Radar has remained echo-free today and satellite imagery shows only fair weather cumulus lines in the low level southerly flow and some thin high cirrus streaming east across the area aloft. Area soundings have indicated more low to mid layer dry air across the region this afternoon as opposed to last several days and also some capping between 900 and 700 mb, depending on location. Also, water vapor imagery indicates the dry layer of air in the mid levels, and PWATS are generally ranging from just above 1 inch to less than 1 inch across the area. This has prevented any isolated showers or storms from developing this afternoon, and would tend to suggest no development late this afternoon or early evening as well, but we will monitor. It has been a little more breezy this afternoon and with better mixing surface dewpoint temps have been slightly lower than past few days as well. This has brought slightly lower max temps and heat indices this afternoon than over the weekend, but both max and min temps are still above normal for this time of the year. Guidance indicates that this trend will continue, with similar conditions through Tuesday. No PoPs and continued hot days and warm nights trough the near term. Low temps tonight expected to be in the upper 60s and lower 70s from just inland from the coast and northward across our interior zones, and in the mid 70s along the immediate beaches. High temps on Tuesday ranging from low to mid 90s interior west to mid and a few upper 90s interior east, but like today only in the mid 80s at the coast. The increased southerly flow, combined with swell period offshore, has resulted in an increase in strong rip current activity along the beaches, where a HIGH RISK of rip currents is now in effect. 12/DS .SHORT TERM /Tuesday night Through Thursday night/...An upper ridge will continue to dominate the area through Wednesday, maintaining dry and hot conditions. By Thursday, the upper ridge will begin to weaken and shift southeastward in response to several shortwaves ejecting northeastward from the southwestern states upper trough. Meanwhile, a weak cold front will also approach the area from the northwest late in the day. The weakening upper ridge combined with increasing deep layer moisture and approaching front will allow for isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms to return to the forecast along with slightly lower temps. /13 .LONG TERM /Friday Through Monday/...A weak front is expected to stall near the area on Friday bring scattered showers and thunderstorms to the area. The coverage will be most numerous during the afternoon and early evening hours. The front washes out over the weekend with a diurnal pattern of scattered showers and thunderstorms through the remainder of the period. /13 && .MARINE...A ridge of high pressure stretching west over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico will continue through late week, although will shift east and weaken slightly by late week as a frontal boundary settles into the interior southeast states and becomes nearly stationary. A light to at times moderate onshore flow expected to continue. Little change in seas expected through the week, mainly ranging in the 1 to 3 foot range but the persistent southerly fetch may increase seas to 3 or 4 feet beyond 50 nm offshore by Thursday, then subsiding slightly over the upcoming weekend. 12/DS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Mobile 71 92 71 91 71 89 73 90 / 0 0 0 0 10 20 20 50 Pensacola 74 89 74 88 74 87 76 88 / 0 0 0 0 10 10 20 40 Destin 76 86 76 86 76 85 77 85 / 0 0 0 0 10 10 20 30 Evergreen 69 97 69 94 68 92 71 92 / 10 0 0 0 0 20 20 40 Waynesboro 68 93 68 91 68 90 70 91 / 0 0 0 0 10 20 20 50 Camden 70 95 69 94 68 91 71 91 / 10 0 0 0 0 20 20 40 Crestview 68 95 68 94 69 92 71 92 / 0 0 0 0 10 10 20 40 && .MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...High Rip Current Risk through Tuesday evening for ALZ265-266. FL...High Rip Current Risk through Tuesday evening for FLZ202-204-206. 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 1005 AM CDT Mon May 27 2019 ALZ265-266-FLZ202-204-206-281515- Mobile Coastal-Baldwin Coastal-Escambia Coastal-Santa Rosa Coastal- Okaloosa Coastal- 1005 AM CDT Mon May 27 2019 ...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. High Rip Current Risk. Heat indices will climb into the 95 to 100 degree range for many inland locations. Stay hydrated and take frequent breaks in the shade to avoid overexposure to the heat. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. High Rip Current Risk. The heat index will climb to 100 degrees in some inland areas each afternoon through mid week. Stay hydrated and take frequent breaks in the shade to avoid overexposure to the heat. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. ALZ051>060-261>264-FLZ201-203-205-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-281515- Choctaw-Washington-Clarke-Wilcox-Monroe-Conecuh-Butler-Crenshaw- Escambia-Covington-Mobile Inland-Baldwin Inland-Mobile Central- Baldwin Central-Escambia Inland-Santa Rosa Inland-Okaloosa Inland- Wayne-Perry-Greene-Stone-George- 1005 AM CDT Mon May 27 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Alabama, southwest Alabama, northwest Florida and southeast Mississippi. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. There is a HIGH Risk of rip currents for coastal Alabama and northwest Florida beaches today through Tuesday night. Heat indices will climb into the 95 to 100 degree range for many inland locations. Stay hydrated and take frequent breaks in the shade to avoid overexposure to the heat. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. The heat index will climb to 100 degrees in some inland areas each afternoon through mid week. Stay hydrated and take frequent breaks in the shade to avoid overexposure to the heat. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. GMZ630>636-650-655-670-675-281515- 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- 1005 AM CDT Mon May 27 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the coastal waters of Alabama and northwest Florida. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A 21 year old male from Robertsdale, AL drowned from a rip current at Gulf Shores public beach while trying to save his young cousin.
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, Baldwin Coastal | 2019-05-27 | 21 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2019
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: 819685.