Rip Current — Coastal Palm Beach County, Florida

2015-03-14 to 2015-03-15 · Coastal Palm Beach County, Florida

Event narrative

At around 345 PM EDT, a 21-year old male British national went missing in the surf at MacArthur Beach State Park in North Palm Beach. A teenage girl who was swimming with him and was also caught in a rip current but she was rescued by two college students who swim for Florida International University. She was taken to the hospital for treatment and was reported to be breathing normally. The body of the male was discovered on Sunday at around 12:30 PM EDT by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at the same beach.

Wider weather episode

During the week of March 8th through the 14th, onshore flow along the Atlantic coast resulted in strong rip currents at the beaches. Beach attendance was heavy each day due to spring break with many rescues and a couple of drownings. The city of Hollywood reported 24 people rescued from Rip Currents and Pompano Beach reported 15 people were rescued ranging in ages from 6 to 69.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 568254. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.