Rip Current, Guam
- When
- January 3, 8:00 PM SST to January 4, 9:30 AM SST
- Where
- Guam County, Apra Harbor
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Rip Current in Guam, January 3 to 4, 2001
A group of seven illegal immigrants from mainland China jumped from a Taiwanese fishing boat off Apra Harbor's reef at 2000 GLST. A few got caught in the strong swells which resulted in the deaths of two of them.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- 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 group of seven illegal immigrants from mainland China jumped from a Taiwanese fishing boat off Apra Harbor's reef at 2000 GLST. A few got caught in the strong swells which resulted in the deaths of two of them. Three others, who also got caught in the strong swells, were found clinging to a buoy at the entrance to Apra Harbor. Rescue efforts began at 0650 on January 4th after the crew membersof the Japanese fishing vessel Iya Maru reported seeing the three men clinging to the buoy. Guam fire rescue units took the three men to the commercial pier at 0738. Rescue efforts continued after further questioning revealed the suspected illegal immigrants were among a group of seven people. Guam Fire and rescue located the first of two bodies about a quarter of a mile south of Orote Point near Piti at 0921. A Navy HC-5 helicopter located the second body about a half a mile southwest of Orote Point. The first man was wearing a personal flotation device and had been badly battered on the reef by the high surf. The second man was not wearing a personal flotation device and appeared tohave been attacked by sharks.
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 Jan 3, 3:39 PM SST, 4 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 3:39 PM SST, 4 hours 21 minutes before
AFDPQ AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU 1 PM GUAM LST THU JAN 4 2001 WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC BETWEEN EQUATOR AND 25N FROM 130E TO 180. TYPHOON SOULIK (34W) IS CENTERED NEAR 18.4N 136.7E WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 115 MPH GUSTING TO 145 MPH. SOULIK IS DRIFTING NORTHEAST AT 4 MPH AND IS WEAKENING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING WITHIN 60 MILES OF THE CENTER. A SHEAR LINE EXTENDS WEST ALONG 21N FROM 180 TO A SMALL AREA OF HEAVY SHOWERS NEAR 21N148E...FURTHER WEST TO TYPHOON SOULIK...THEN SOUTHWEST TO 12N130E. CLOUDINESS AND SCATTERED SHOWERS EXTEND UP TO 300 MILES NORTH OF THIS SHEAR LINE. TRADE WIND CONVERGENCE IS PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF MICRONESIA...MAINLY BETWEEN 3N AND 10N FROM 145E TO 160E...AND BETWEEN 4N AND 8N FROM 160E TO 175E. THESE AREAS INCLUDE CHUUK...POHNPEI...KOSRAE AND MAJURO. THE MONSOON TROUGH EXTKENDS FROM 3N130E TO 1N148E. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS NEAR THE TROUGH ARE OCCURRING BETWEEN THE EQUATOR AND 5N FROM 134E TO 142E.
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 | 2001-01-03 | Male | In Water | Direct | |
| Rip Current, Guam | 2001-01-03 | 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
- Rip Current in Guam, January 3, 2001
- Wildfire and High Wind in California, January 3 to 8, 2001
- Wildfire in California, January 3 to 5, 2001
- High Wind in California, January 3, 2001
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, January 3, 2001
- Extreme Cold in West Virginia, January 3, 2001
- Dense Fog in California, January 3, 2001
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 3 to 4, 2001
- Extreme Cold in Ohio, January 3, 2001
- High Wind in Oregon, January 3, 2001
More
Every storm in Guam in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, January 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: 5227617.