High Surf — North Central, Puerto Rico

2010-09-17 · North Central, Puerto Rico

Event narrative

An 18 year old female and a 19 year old male were overtaken by a large wave at la Poza del Obispo beach in Arecibo, when the couple was seated near the shore, and a large wave sucked them out to sea. The male was rescued but the female's body was never found.

Wider weather episode

Dangerous long period northeast and then north swells generated by Hurricane Igor produced large breaking waves, dangerous surf, and some coastal flooding across Puerto Rico. Northeast swells of 13 to 15 feet were measured by the NOAA buoy 41043, located about 180 nautical miles northeast of San Juan. The swells caused coastal flooding in La Pared Luquillo. One female 18 year old was overtaken by the swells at la Posa del Obispo in Barrio Islote de Arecibo around 2 pm on Fri Sept 17. The swells began affecting Puerto Rico late in the evening on Thursday, September 16th and continued through Tuesday September 21.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 262329. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.