Rip Current — Okaloosa, Florida

2001-06-06 · near Destin, Okaloosa, Florida

Event narrative

A forty-eight year old male from New Mexico drowned in rough surf near Henderson State Park. The man was swimming with his son when they were caught in a strong rip current. Bystanders were able to pull the two out of the water. The boy was unharmed but the father was unconscious and could not be revived. Tropical Storm Allison had moved North out of the western Gulf of Mexico into eastern Texas the day before. At the same time, strong High pressure was centered off the southeast Atlantic coast. The gradient between the low pressure to the west and the high pressure to the east, produced a persistent strong southerly wind flow over the coastal waters of the western Florida panhandle. This, combined with larger than normal swells which were propagated off Tropical Storm Allison, produced deadly rip currents along the Florida Panhandle beaches. The National Weather Service in Mobile had forecasted a moderate threat of rip tides for the day, and red flags were flying along the beaches to alert swimmers to the potential rip current threat. The rip current situation became so bad during the afternoon, that sirens, normally used as storm warnings, were activated at Pensacola Beach.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5251528. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.