Name: Rip Current in Guam, December 1, 2002
Start: 2002-12-01T12:45
End: 2002-12-01T18:00
Location: Guam

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
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 diver, 40 year old Domauyuk Yury, was swept away by strong currents at the north of the Grotto in Marpi. A pilot and Police Officers Vince Babauta and Michael Camacho flying in a helicopter spotted Yury floating in the waters north of the Groto. He was waving his hands to show that he was fine. Notified about the victim's location, the officers on harbor patrol rescued him at 1756. Yury told police the he and his friend, Andrei Dorosuen, went to the Grotto to dive around 1245. Yury said that when he exited the cave at the Grotto, the current was so strong it caused him and Dorosuen to seperate. He said that he was dragged so he decided to just float with the current. Yury said he tried to swim back to the Grotto, but failed so he relaxed hoping that help would come. Dorosuen said he waited for Yury for 20 minutes before he got out from the water and rushed to Sting Ray Dive Shop to report the incident. The dive shop called the Department of Public Safety Unit at 1600. Yury suffered minor scratches on his arms and legs.

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 1, 4:05 AM SST, 8 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 4:05 AM SST, 8 hours 40 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 AM GUAM LST MON DEC 2 2002

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

A MONSOON TROUGH STRETCHES ACROSS MICRONESIA..EXTENDING FROM
7N130E EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD TO NEAR 4N140E THEN EAST-NORTHEASTWARD TO
A WEAK CIRCULATION NEAR 6N166E THEN FINALLY EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD TO
AROUND 2N180. ISOLATED SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH ARE FOUND
SOUTH OF PALAU...OR BETWEEN THE EQUATOR AND 4N FROM 130E TO 138E.
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
TROUGH AND THE CIRCULATION CAN BE FOUND BETWEEN BETWEEN THE EQUATOR
AND 9N FROM 160E TO 180. THIS AREA INCLUDES NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
CHUUK AND POHNPEI STATES...KOSRAE STATE...AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS AS WELL AS NORTHWESTERN
KIRIBATI.

THE TRAILING END OF A COLD FRONT NOW MOVING OFF JAPAN IS PRODUCING
SCATTERED SHOWERS FAR NORTH OF PALAU. THIS AREA RUNS 150 MILES NORTH
OF A LINE FROM 14N130E TO 24N145E.

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Saipan

When: December 1, 12:45 PM SST to 6:00 PM SST
Where: Saipan County, Garapan
Injuries: 1 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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, December 2002

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: 5324055.