A 16 year old male and an adult male in his 50s both died trying to save a 12 year old boy from rip currents in Perdido Key. They were family friends visiting from Atlanta.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 16 year old male and an adult male in his 50s both died trying to save a 12 year old boy from rip currents in Perdido Key. They were family friends visiting from Atlanta. The 12 year old died a week later at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
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 Apr 6, 11:44 AM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Mobile AL
1244 PM CDT Thu Apr 6 2023
...New AVIATION, NEAR TERM...
.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 1244 PM CDT Thu Apr 6 2023
VFR ceilings will continue through the afternoon and into the
early evening before reducing around midnight. Winds will be light
out of the southeast around 10 knots. After midnight, IFR to LIFR
ceilings will develop across the entire area. Some patchy fog
could be possible across the Florida Panhandle after midnight
possibly reducing visibilities to potentially IFR to LIFR.
Ceilings and visbys will increase during the morning as a cold
front approaches from the northwest. Scattered showers and storms
will be possible just outside the TAF period tomorrow afternoon.
BB/03
&&
.NEAR TERM...
(Now through Friday)
Issued at 1244 PM CDT Thu Apr 6 2023
The upper ridge over the region will slowly weaken and shift
eastward today as an upper trough moves east and an associated sfc
cold front moves slowly southeast. Rain chances will gradually
increase from the northwest late this afternoon and tonight. Areas
south and east of I-65 will continue to remain dry through
tonight. Higher rain chances will spread across the remainder of
the area on Friday as the front slowly moves east across the
forecast area. The upper dynamics will remain displaced well to
the north, resulting in the very slow movement of the front. Rain
will gradually spread east across the area on Friday, with the
highest PoPs (60-70 percent) northwest of I-65 lower PoPs (20-50
percent) roughly southeast of I-65. Patchy dense fog will continue
to affect portions of the area during the overnight and early
morning hours.
Weak instability and upper dynamics will prevent any severe storms.
However, locally heavy rain is possible due to training showers and
thunderstorms across mainly northwest portions of the area.
Highs today range from the lower 80s over northwest portions of the
area to the upper 80s over south central Alabama. Highs on Friday
will be in the low to mid 70s across northwest portions of the area
to mid/upper 80s across southeast portions of the area. /13
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Mobile 68 81 65 75 56 68 54 70 / 10 60 80 90 20 10 10 10
Pensacola 69 79 66 74 58 67 55 69 / 0 30 50 80 30 10 10 10
Destin 68 77 67 75 58 68 55 69 / 0 10 40 80 40 20 10 10
Evergreen 64 84 60 73 51 65 49 69 / 10 50 60 90 30 10 0 10
Waynesboro 61 73 59 70 52 66 50 69 / 40 70 90 80 20 10 0 10
Camden 61 79 58 68 49 64 48 67 / 20 60 80 90 30 10 10 10
Crestview 66 86 62 76 53 68 50 71 / 0 30 40 90 40 20 10 10
&&
.MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...High Rip Current Risk through Saturday morning for ALZ265-266.
FL...High Rip Current Risk through Saturday morning for FLZ202-204-
206.
MS...None.
GM...None.
&&
This product is also available on the web at:
www.weather.gov/mobThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A 16 year old male drowned trying to save a family of four caught in a rip current in Perdido Key. An adult male in his 50s also died and the 12 year old boy they were trying save died a week later in the hospital.
A male in his 50s drowned trying to save a family of four caught in a rip current in Perdido Key. A 16 year old male trying to help also died. The 12 year old boy they were trying to help died a week later in the hospital.
A 12 year old male died a week after being rescued from a rip current in Perdido Key. A male in his 50s and a 16 year old also died from injuries sustained during the rescue.
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 | 2023-04-06 | 16 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Escambia Coastal | 2023-04-06 | 50 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Rip Current, Escambia Coastal | 2023-04-13 | 12 | Male | Other | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 2023
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: 1084485, 1084486, 1091574.