Rip Current, Guam
- When
- February 21, 1:15 PM SST to 1:40 PM SST
- Where
- Guam County, Talofofo
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Rip Current in Guam, February 21, 2001
A 54-year-old female Korean tourist was snorkeling with her husband and about two dozen other tourist Ipan Beach Resort in Talafofo. Jun Bae, the resort's general manager, said he an four other employees rushed to the victim when they saw her husband carrying her and crying for help.
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.
A 54-year-old female Korean tourist was snorkeling with her husband and about two dozen other tourist Ipan Beach Resort in Talafofo. Jun Bae, the resort's general manager, said he an four other employees rushed to the victim when they saw her husband carrying her and crying for help. Guam Fire Department rescue crews were notified at 1330. The woman was under the choppy waters for about 10 minutes. Resort attendees said they did not know how the accident took place, noting the women was wearing a life vest, there were three employees watching the swimmers, and the waters were only three to four feet deep. The woman was on life support until February 23, when she was taken off by request of her family. Strong high pressure to the northeast of Guam increased trade winds across the western North Pacific. This created long period swells, which resulted in strong rip currents along the eastern shore lines of the Mariana Islands. Ipan Beach is on the eastern shore and was susceptible to these swells
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 21, 5:30 AM SST, 7 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 5:30 AM SST, 7 hours 45 minutes before
AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU 1 AM GUAM LST THU FEB 22 2001 WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC BETWEEN EQUATOR AND 25N FROM 130E TO 180. THE MONSOON TROUGH STRETCHES FROM 7N130E TO EQUATOR AND 148E. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH ARE LOCATED WITHIN AN AREA BOUNDED BY 1N140E TO 6N130E TO 10N130E TO 5N140E BACK TO 1N140E...INCLUDING PALAU BUT JUST SOUTH OF YAP. SCATTERED SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF A SHEAR LINE ARE ALONG AND UP TO 100 MILES NORTH OF A LINE FROM 14N160E TO 21N180...INCLUDING WAKE ISLAND. LOW LEVEL WIND FLOW CONVERGENCE IS PRODUCING EXTENSIVE LOW-LEVEL CLOUDS WITH LIGHT RAIN AND SCATTERED SHOWERS BETWEEN 21N AND 25N AND FROM 140E TO 170E. TRADE WIND CONVERGENCE IS CAUSING SCATTERED SHOWERS FROM CHUUK TO KOSRAE...OR BETWEEN THE EQUATOR AND 8N AND FROM 152E TO 164E AND EAST OF MAJURO...BETWEEN 7N AND 12N FROM 172E TO THE DATELINE.
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 | 2001-02-23 | 54 | Female | 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
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, February 21, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, February 21, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, February 21, 2001
- Ice Storm in Missouri, February 21, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, February 21, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, February 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in Kentucky, February 21 to 22, 2001
- Winter Storm in Illinois, February 21 to 22, 2001
- Winter Storm in Missouri, February 21, 2001
- Ice Storm in Missouri, February 21, 2001
- Extreme Cold in Maine, February 21 to 22, 2001
- Heavy Snow in California, February 21 to 22, 2001
More
Every storm in Guam in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5229833.