Rip Current — San Diego County Coastal Areas, California

2014-05-29 · San Diego County Coastal Areas, California

Event narrative

Lifeguards started a mass rescue when seven people got caught in a rip current at the northern end of Moonlight Beach around 1310 PST on the 29th, according to Encinitas Fire officials. Five students found a Guatemalan man and his nephew unconscious and kept them afloat until lifeguards arrived to pull them to shore where they were taken to a local hospital. Both eventually died, the man on June 2 and the nephew June 14. The five students were unharmed.

Wider weather episode

Seven swimmers were caught in a rip current off of Moonlight Beach around 1320 PST on the 29th. Five of them were students from a school in Solana Beach and found the two others, a Guatamalan man and his nephew. The man and his nephew were found unconscious and pulled to shore by lifeguards and taken to a local hospital. The nephew, age 17, later died on June 2. His uncle, age 39, eventually died June 14 after two weeks on life support. Surf conditions were 2 to 3 feet at intervals of 10 to 12 seconds along the San Diego County coast that afternoon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 522678. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.