Rip Current, Guam
- When
- December 22, 2:00 PM SST to 3:00 PM SST
- Where
- Guam County, Central Portion
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Rip Current in Guam, December 22, 2001
Swells generated strong currents across parts of the shoreline. A 69 year old man drowned at Gun Beach inTumon Bay as a result of strong currents along the reef line.
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.
Swells generated strong currents across parts of the shoreline. A 69 year old man drowned at Gun Beach inTumon Bay as a result of strong currents along the reef line. At 1433 resucers received a call of a distreesedswimmer at Gun Beach. Rescuers from Tamuning, Tiyan and Dededo responded to the call and arrived to findbystanders performing CPR on the man. He was taken to Guam Memorial Hospital where he was pronounceddead at 1515.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS GUA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 22, 3:48 AM SST, 10 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 22, 3:48 AM SST, 10 hours 12 minutes before
AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU 1 AM GUAM LST SUN DEC 23 2001 WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC BETWEEN EQUATOR AND 25N FROM 130E TO 180. SUPER-TYPHOON FAXAI IS CENTERED NEAR 13N152E...OR ABOUT 440 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF SAIPAN...AND IS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 16 MPH WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 160 MPH. SEE WTPN31 PGTW FROM THE JOINT TYPHOON WARNING CENTER FOR DETAILS. WIDESPREAD CLOUDINESS...HEAVY RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND OUT TO 230 MILES FROM THE EYE. THE MONSOON TROUGH EXTENDS FROM 5N130E TO 6N147E TO SUPER-TYPHOON FAXAI THEN SOUTHEASTWARD TO 4N156E TO 3N164E. LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE NEAR THE EASTERN END OF THE MONSOON TROUGH IS GENERATING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF 6N FROM 170E TO 180E...OR OVER THE SOUTHERN MARSHALL ISLANDS. THE TAIL END OF A COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM 25N143E TO 20N140E. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE ALONG AND UP TO 200 MILES NORTHWEST OF THIS BOUNDARY.
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 | 2001-12-22 | 69 | 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
- Flash Flooding in Puerto Rico, December 22, 2001
- Tornado in Louisiana, December 22, 2001
- Blizzard in North Dakota, December 22 to 23, 2001
- Blizzard in Minnesota, December 22 to 23, 2001
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in California, December 22, 2001
- Blizzard in North Dakota, December 22, 2001
- High Wind in South Dakota, December 22, 2001
- Avalanche in Alaska, December 22 to 23, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, December 22, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, December 22, 2001
- Hail in Iowa, December 22, 2001
- Hail in Louisiana, December 22, 2001
More
Every storm in Guam in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, December 2001
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: 5275809.