Rip Current — Coastal Palm Beach County, Florida

2022-03-06 · Coastal Palm Beach County, Florida

Event narrative

A 64-year-old male visiting from outside the area drowned from a rip current at the 400 block of South Ocean Boulevard in the Town of Palm Beach. Fire-Rescue arrived on-scene at 7:43 AM to a call of an unresponsive man lying on the beach shoreline. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 8:20 AM.

This section of the beach is guarded during operating hours, but the drowning occurred before lifeguards arrived for normal duty.

Wider weather episode

Surface high pressure off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast created a strong pressure gradient across South Florida, resulting in breezy/gusty east winds. This wind pattern led to the formation of strong rip currents at the Atlantic coast beaches, with a confirmed rip current fatality in Palm Beach.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1014716. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.