Rip Current, Guam
- When
- February 5, 11:30 PM SST to February 6, 1:45 AM SST
- Where
- Guam County, Tamuning
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Rip Current in Guam, February 5 to 6, 1999
Hazardous surf and strong currents caused by strong northwest swells were present across the Marianas Islands. Daniel Cepeda Mafnas, 34, disappeared while spear fishing in Tumon Bay near the Hilton Hotel side of Ypao beach.
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GUA wrote it up.
Hazardous surf and strong currents caused by strong northwest swells were present across the Marianas Islands. Daniel Cepeda Mafnas, 34, disappeared while spear fishing in Tumon Bay near the Hilton Hotel side of Ypao beach. Four men, including Mafnas, went into the water around 2330 on the 5th. About an hour and a half later three of the men came out of the water. They could not find Mafnas and called 911 at around 0100 on the 6th. His body was later found near the Fujita Hotel at around 0145.
Event by event
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, Guam | 1999-02-06 | 34 | Male | In Water | Direct |
What these are
- Rip Current
- A narrow, fast current flowing away from the beach that caused a drowning or rescue.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Colorado, February 5, 1999
- High Wind in Oregon, February 5 to 6, 1999
- High Wind in Washington, February 5 to 6, 1999
- Winter Weather in Michigan, February 5, 1999
- High Wind in Oregon, February 5 to 6, 1999
- Winter Storm in Colorado, February 5 to 6, 1999
- High Wind in Washington, February 5, 1999
- Heavy Rain in American Samoa, February 5, 1999
- Heavy Snow in California, February 5 to 6, 1999
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 5 to 7, 1999
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, February 5 to 6, 1999
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, February 5 to 6, 1999
More
Every storm in Guam in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, February 1999
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5697298.