Event narrative (NOAA)
Three young men from northern Mexico were swept to their deaths in dangerous rip currents near the Isla Blanca jetties on South Padre Island. The men took advantage of the warming surf temperatures to venture into the water, only to drown due to the strength of the current and a combination of lack of swimming ability in dangerous surf, and potential panic. ||Conditions were ripe for rip currents. A front had shifted winds to the north and northeast, and swell period increased to 8 and 9 seconds, with average period rising to 6.9 seconds at the NOAA Buoy about 35 NM east northeast of Port Mansfield. Surf heights were likely 4 to 6 feet, and the swell direction was from a favorable east-southeast direction.||The swimmers ventured out at around 6 PM. A 22 year old was pulled out of the wa
Other notable rip current events in Texas
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.