Rip Current — Coastal Broward County, Florida

2010-05-15 · Coastal Broward County, Florida

Event narrative

A local teenager and his friend were caught in rip currents while swimming on Fort Lauderdale Beach. One of the boys was rescued by emergency personnel, but an 18-year-old male was unable to be rescued. His body was spotted two days later near the same spot on the beach.

The beach was unguarded at the time of the incident because it was after hours.

Wider weather episode

Persistent high pressure over the western Atlantic produced moderate to strong east winds across south Florida. This led to the development of strong rip currents along the east coast beaches. Three persons drowned as a result of the strong rip currents, and as many as several hundred people were rescued during a three-day period along the beaches of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 236731. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.