Two deadly rip current incidents were reported across the western Florida Panhandle on October 9th and 10th.
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.
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.
Two deadly rip current incidents were reported across the western Florida Panhandle on October 9th and 10th.
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 Oct 9, 8:52 PM CST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Mobile AL
952 PM CDT Fri Oct 9 2020
.NEAR TERM /Now Through Saturday night/...Hurricane Delta
continues to move inland across LA tonight. Isolated tornadoes,
locally heavy rainfall, minor coastal flooding and gusty winds
will be the primary hazards through Saturday afternoon and evening
for our area.
Our quiet respite appears to be coming to an end in another few
hours as hi-res model guidance has started to hop on the idea of
a small broken band of showers and storms developing over
southeastern MS into southwestern AL between midnight and 4am.
This initial batch of storms will develop in an environment
characterized by 750J MLCAPE (instability) and sfc-1km SRH
approaching 300m2/s2. We will have to monitor these storms for an
isolated tornado threat as they slowly translate to the northeast.
Winds are expected to continue to increase this evening from west
to east across the area as Delta moves across LA and western MS.
Between Deltas approach and a surface ridge of high pressure to
the east the pressure gradient (change in pressure over distance)
over our area will begin to increase allowing for winds to
increase to sustained 15 to 25mph gusting 25 to 35mph, with
highest values expected across western and southwestern AL, and
eastern MS. A wind advisory will go into effect at 10pm CDT,
lasting through tomorrow afternoon.
Going into the early morning hours a feeder band associated with
Delta will pivot across the region from west to east, with
isolated convection potentially developing ahead of this band. The
threat for isolated tornadoes will increase prior to daybreak
with the approach of this broken band of convection and in any
well established updraft associated with convection ahead of the
feeder band. Our environment will gradually become conducive for
low- topped supercell thunderstorms with MLCAPE values
approaching 500J overnight potentially increasing to 750 to 1,000J
during the late morning hours. In addition to this, ample low
level shear will be in place with 200 to 300m2/s2 SRH in the sfc-
1km, depicted with large, curved hodographs across the region.
The best alignment of higher CAPE and shear looks likely to occur
during the morning and afternoon hours stretching from
southeastern MS and along the highway 84 corridor, and this will
be the area of greatest interest for isolated tornadoes. By late
afternoon into early evening, much drier air aloft will surge in
behind the convection with PWATs diving from 2.25 inches to near
1.5 inches. Only isolated showers may persist across west central
into central AL by late evening.
Temperature forecast remains on track with lows in the lower to
middle 70's throughout tonight, rising some Saturday afternoon
into the upper 70's and lower 80's. By Saturday night,
temperatures will begin to fall into the upper 60's and lower
70's. Winds throughout the period will remain easterly to
southeasterly, with the strongest winds present through tomorrow
afternoon sustained 15 to 25mph gusting to 35mph at times. By
tomorrow evening these winds will die down sustained 10 to 20mph
gusting to near 25mph as Delta pulls away from the area and the
pressure gradient begins to weaken.
A coastal flood advisory remains in effect through tomorrow
evening for Mobile and Baldwin counties, along with a high surf
advisory for coastal counties. A high risk of rip currents remains
in place through tomorrow night. MM/25
&&
.MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...Wind Advisory until 1 PM CDT Saturday for ALZ051>057-059-261>266.
Coastal Flood Advisory until 6 PM CDT Saturday for ALZ263>266.
High Rip Current Risk through late Saturday night for ALZ265-266.
High Surf Advisory until 6 PM CDT Saturday for ALZ265-266.
FL...Wind Advisory until 1 PM CDT Saturday for FLZ201-202.
High Rip Current Risk through late Saturday night for FLZ202-204-
206.
High Surf Advisory until 6 PM CDT Saturday for FLZ202-204-206.
MS...Wind Advisory until 1 PM CDT Saturday for MSZ067-075-076-078-079.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 1 PM CDT Saturday for GMZ630>634-650-
655-670-675.
&&
This product is also available on the web at:
http://weather.gov/mobPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
720 PM CDT FRI OCT 9 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0400 PM COASTAL FLOOD WEST END DAUPHIN ISLAND 30.25N 88.18W
10/09/2020 MOBILE AL PUBLIC
WAVE RUN-UP LEADING TO MINOR COASTAL
FLOODING ISSUES ON THE WEST END OF DAUPHIN
ISLAND. PICTURES VIA SOCIAL MEDIA SHOW SAND
ON SIDE STREETS AND WATER ALONG THE SIDES OF
BIENVILLE BLVD GENERALLY WEST OF TAOS CT.
PICTURES AND VIDEOS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
&&
MBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
754 PM CDT FRI OCT 9 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0400 PM COASTAL FLOOD WEST END DAUPHIN ISLAND 30.25N 88.18W
10/08/2020 MOBILE AL PUBLIC
WAVE RUN-UP LEADING TO MINOR COASTAL
FLOODING ISSUES ON THE WEST END OF DAUPHIN
ISLAND. PICTURES VIA SOCIAL MEDIA SHOW WATER
ALONG THE SIDES OF BIENVILLE BLVD GENERALLY
WEST OF SURF CT.
&&
MBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A 49 year old male drowned due to a rip current approximately 5 miles east of Pensacola Beach.
A 19 year old male drowned due to a rip current near Scenic Highway 98 in Destin.
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, Escambia Coastal | 2020-10-09 | 49 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Okaloosa Coastal | 2020-10-10 | 19 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, October 2020
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: 930272, 930274.