Name: Rip Current in Guam, February 10, 2001
Start: 2001-02-10T12:10
End: 2001-02-10T12:30
Location: Guam

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 3
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.

21-year-old Hsieh Yi Fan and 19-year-old Shih Pei Chi of Taipei, Taiwan were swimming at the Grotto in Saipan. The two ladies went down to a ledge at the Grotto and shortly thereafter a huge set of waves washed in a swept them off their feet. Luke Ishizaki was swimming with two friends (Derek Hendricks and Robert Baumgarten) near-by when he heard the ladies scream. He jumped down from the top of the ledge and as he did another wave swept him down. He managed to grab hold of a safety rope and wrap it around his legs. The safety rope is strung across the area to help swimmers fight the currents. Ishizaki's friends were pushed away by the currents and could not offer assistance. Ishizaki grabbed one of the ladies in his arms and held onto the other one with his hands as they were being swept into the current. Ishizaki kept them from being swept into the sharp rocks. After the waves settled down Ishizaki lifted the women to safety. Ishizaki and the two ladies received minor injuries. A strong storm system passed well to the north of Guam. Strong winds associated with the storm created long period swells, which resulted in Hazardous Surf and strong rip currents along the northern shore lines of the Mariana Islands.

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 Feb 10, 4:04 AM SST, 8 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 10, 4:04 AM SST, 8 hours 6 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 AM GUAM LST SUN FEB 11 2001

WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC BETWEEN EQUATOR AND 25N FROM 130E TO 180.

A WEAK SHEAR LINE EXTENDS SOUTHWESTWARD FROM 25N170E TO 22N160E
AND CONTINUED TO 22N 150E. BROKEN TO OVERCAST LOW LEVEL CLOUDINESS
WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS EXISTS ALONG AND UP TO 250 MILES NORTH OF THE
BOUNDARY.

THE NEAR EQUATORIAL TRADE WIND CONVERGENCE ZONE IS GENERATING
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF PALAU AND YAP
STATE IN AN AREA BETWEEN THE EQUATOR AND 3N AND FROM 130E TO 153E.

SCATTERED TRADE WIND SHOWERS ARE LOCATED BETWEEN 10N AND 20N AND
FROM 140E TO 170E.

STRONG TO NEAR GALE TRADE WIND FLOW EXIST IN THE VICINITY OF THE
MARIANA ISLANDS. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE OCCURRING FROM THE MARIANA
ISLANDS EASTWARD TO 150E.

TRADE WIND CONVERGENCE IS PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWER ACTIVITY NEAR
KOSRAE AND INTO THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. THIS AREA IS FROM 160E TO 180E
BETWEEN 3N AND 10N.

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Saipan

When: February 10, 12:10 PM SST to 12:30 PM SST
Where: Saipan County, Central Portion
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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

More

Every storm in Guam in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, February 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: 5229832.