Rip Current and High Surf in American Samoa, May 14 to 16, 2000

Name: Rip Current and High Surf in American Samoa, May 14 to 16, 2000
Start: 2000-05-14T03:00
End: 2000-05-16T03:00
Location: American Samoa

May 14 to 16, 2000 · NWS ASO · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 rip current, 1 high surf, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Event by event

1 rip current, 1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Tutuila

When: May 14, 3:00 AM SST to May 16, 3:00 AM SST
Where: Tutuila County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

High Surf, Tutuila

When: May 14, 3:00 AM SST to May 16, 3:00 AM SST
Where: Tutuila County, Countywide
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

An intense low pressure are far south of Samoa generated high swell which created surf up to 20 ft in some exposed areas along south shores of American Samoa. The extremely high surf combined with high tides cause some beach erosion with many low lying areas along the main road where debris, sand and rocks causing road blocks with estimated damages by Public Works to be around 100 thousands. These were some of the highest surf observed in a non Tropical Cyclone systems.

What these are

Rip Current: A narrow, fast current flowing away from the beach that caused a drowning or rescue.
High Surf: Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in American Samoa in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in American Samoa, May 2000

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: 5149929, 5149930.