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Surf Zone Fatalities in NWS Areas of Forecast Responsibility – 2020

Weather.gov > Safety > Surf Zone Fatalities in NWS Areas of Forecast Responsibility – 2020
 

Preliminary data on fatalities which occurred in the surf zones across National Weather Service areas of forecast responsibility through December 31, 2020. This data is preliminary and may not be completely accurate. Click on a state with surf zone fatalities in 2020 for a more detailed view.

U.s. Surf Zone deaths in 2020

rip current fatality Rip Currents
high surf fatality High Surf
sneaker wave fatality location Sneaker Waves
other, longshore wave Other
other surf death

Unknown
Surf/Rip Resources
 

Rip
Current

High
Surf

Sneaker
Wave

Other
(see Key)

Not
Known

Location

ST

M/F

Age

Date
  X       Falcon Cove OR M 4 1/11
  X       Falcon Cove OR F 7 1/11
X         Cayo PR M ? 1/24
X         Black Eagle Beach PR M 61 1/28
X         Fort Pierce State Park FL M 27 2/16
X         Middles Beach PR M 22 3/16
X         Pinones Beach PR M 60 3/16
      X1   North Myrtle Beach SC M 17 4/9
X         Grand Isle LA M 32 4/26
      X   Galveston Beach TX M 29 5/15
X         Perdido Key FL M 43 5/16
      X1   Crescent Beach FL M 26 5/16
X         Venice Beach CA M 39 5/17
        X Ponce Inlet FL M 62 5/21
X         Rockaway Beach NY M 24 5/22
X         Siesta Key FL F 10 5/24
X         Grand Isle LA M 17 5/24
X         Topsail Beach NC M 29 5/26
X         Dorado PR M 47 5/31
X         Grand Isle LA M 8 6/5
X         Grand Isle LA M 10 6/5
X         Grand Isle LA M 33 6/5
      X:4   Holland State Park MI M 6 6/6
      X:4   Holland State Park MI M 17 6/6
      X:4   J.P. Luby Beach TX M 26 6/10
X         Grand Isle LA M 43 6/10
      X   Jacksonville Beach FL M 10 6/13
X         Myrtle Beach (16th Ave N.) SC M 52 6/19
X         Holly Beach (Garden City) SC M 71 6/19
X         Myrtle Beach (7th Ave. N) SC M 25 6/20
  X       Indiana Dunes National Park IN M 18 6/23
      X:4   Sodus  Point Beach Park NY M 20 7/2
X         Kitty Hawk NC M 26 7/3
      X:1   Sleeping Bear Dunes MI M 19 7/4
X         Atlantic City Beach NJ M 77 7/9
      X   Long Beach NY M 19 7/9
      X:9   Marquette Park Beach IN M 12 7/9
        X Duck NC M 65 7/10
        X Ventnor NJ M 18 7/10
  X       Lions Park Beach MI F 32 7/12
X         Ocracoke NC M 65 7/12
X         Emerald Isle NC M 72 7/12
X         Emerald Isle NC M 73 7/12
        X Cupsogue Beach NY M 31 7/12
X         Westhampton Beach NY M 57 7/12
X         Scarborough State Beach RI M 64 7/12
  X       South Haven MI M ? 7/12
  X       Promontory Point (near Burnham Park) FL M 25 7/14
        X Jones Beach NY M 34 7/14
X         T.H. Stone Mem. St. Jos. Penin. State Park FL M 14 7/15
  X       Promontory Point (near Burnham Park) IL M 25 7/16
X         Southwick Beach State Park NY M 49 7/17
  X       McKinley Beach WI M 19 7/18
      X:4   Grand Haven State Park MI M 14 7/19
X         Fort Walton Beach FL M 33 7/22
X         St. George's Island FL M 40 7/27
        X Bristol RI M 56 7/29
      X:4   Lion's Park Beach, St. Joseph MI M 44 7/30
      X:4   New Buffalo City Beach MI M 24 7/30
        X Warren Dunes State Park MI F 13 7/30
        X Emerald Isle NC M ? 8/2
  X       Diversey Harbor, Chicago IL M 15 8/3
X         Garden City SC M 76 8/4
X         McKinley Beach WI M 14 8/8
          McKinley Beach WI M 50 8/8
      X:3   Big Traverse Beach MI M 12 8/11
X         Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk IN M 16 8/16
          Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk IN M 18 8/16
X         Porter Beach IN M 21 8/16
X         Napeague NY M 24 8/18
X         Sand Dunes Beach MI F 29 8/20
X         Tybee Island GA F 18 8/23
X         St. George's Island FL M 56 8/24
  X       Corpus Christi TX M 24 8/24
X         Fort Morgan AL F 54 8/29
X         Guayanes Beach, Yabucoa PR M 75 9/1
X         Galveston TX M 16 9/6
X         Galveston TX M 57 9/6
  X       South Haven MI M 18 9/6
      X:4   Washington Park Beach IN F 16 9/7
  X       Concrete Beach IL M 20 9/10
          Weko Beach MI F 14 9/13
X         Folly Beach SC M 6 9/13
X         Bethany Beach DE M 72 9/13
X         Lavallette NJ M 60 9/14
  X       Frankfort MI M 12 9/21
X         Poza de las Mujeres Beach, Manati PR M 20 9/29
X         La Concha Beach, Condado PR M 25 9/29
X         North Wildwood NJ F 49 9/29
X         La Concha Beach, Condado PR F ? 10/1
X         Jacksonville Beach FL F ? 10/6
X         5 miles east of Pensacola Beach FL M 49 10/9
X         Destin FL M 19 10/10
X         Atlantic Beach FL M 40s 10/10
X         Daytona Beach FL M 27 10/24
X         Isle of Palms SC F 21 10/29
X         La Concha Beach PR M 45 11/8
X         La Concha Beach PR F 40 11/8
X         La Concha Beach PR M 29 11/13
          Ormond Beach SC M 7 11/28
  X       Humboldt Bay CA F 67 12/7
65 12 0 16 7         Total: 100

Key: 1: longshore current, 2: tidal current, 3: outlet current, 4: structural current, 5: shore break, 6: strong current, 7: channel current, 8: inlet current, 9: sandbar
*American Samoa, ? : unknown

Accurately tracking these types of fatalities is difficult because so many go unreported and undocumented. Due to the difficult nature of tracking surf zone fatalities; these data may not match other sources.

  • Surf Zone: area of water between the high tide level on the beach and the seaward side of the breaking waves. The NWS officially categorizes surf zone fatalities caused by three types of hazards; Rip Current, High Surf and Sneaker Wave (see definitions below).
  • Rip Current: A relatively small-scale surf-zone current moving away from the beach. Rip currents form as waves disperse along the beach causing water to become trapped between the beach and a sandbar or other underwater feature. The water converges into a narrow, river-like channel moving away from the shore at high speed.
  • High Surf: Large waves breaking on or near the shore resulting from swells spawned by a distant storm.
  • Sneaker Wave: Large wave that suddenly swamps a beach/coast and takes people by surprise sweeping them into the water.

Occasionally, there are surf zone fatalities caused by other hazards such as unusual waves and currents. These hazards fall in the “Other” category. “Other” is not an official category defined by the NWS. Rip Currents cause a large of percentage of the surf zone fatalities in the United States. Typically, a victim of a surf zone hazard is a male between the ages of 10-29. Most of the fatalities occur during the months of June and July and in the NWS Southern Region.

NWS started tracking these statistics in 2013. We do not have breakdowns before 2013.