Rip Current — Alger, Michigan

2017-08-02 · Alger, Michigan

Event narrative

At least two individuals were swimming in Lake Superior at a beach in Alger County, east of the Laughing Whitefish River outlet, when they were both swept out towards the open waters by a rip current. Both individuals were in water that was waist deep when the first individual was pulled out by the rip current. Upon trying to rescue the individual, the second swimmer was also pulled out by the same current. The current was so strong it was reported that the individual who lost their life had been ripped out of the hands of the second individual. The second individual was able to self-rescue back to shore, but unfortunately the first individual that was pulled out by the rip current was unreachable and lost their life. Both were from Gahanna, Ohio, 612 miles away from the incident.

Wider weather episode

Strong northerly flow across Lake Superior created dangerous rip currents along the beaches of Alger county, which unfortunately took the life of one individual on 8/2.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 713023. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.