Rip Current in Guam, January 5, 2002

Name: Rip Current in Guam, January 5, 2002
Start: 2002-01-05T12:00
End: 2002-01-05T14:00
Location: Guam

January 5, 2002 · NWS GUA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

In the first incident, Peter Siclair and an unidentifeid companion were boogie board surfing at Sugar Dock when both were swept away by strong currents in the channel. One lost his boogie board while the other was hanging on the board to stay afloat.

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.

Two men were stranded while boogie boarding and a male juvenile was sweptby strong currents during seperate incidents in the channel at Sugar Dock Saipan.In the first incident, Peter Siclair and an unidentifeid companion were boogie board surfing at Sugar Dock when both were swept away by strong currents in the channel. One lost his boogie board while the other was hanging on the board to stay afloat. A witness asked Lt. Pedro Muna, an off duty policeman, and his nephew Ray King for help. They used a 21 foot Bayliner boat in the rescue. Soon after rescuing Peter Sinclair and his friend, police officer told Muna that a boy was carried away by strong currents in the channel. The boy had jumped into the water, got cramps and was swept away by the currents. Police Officer Mike Camacho ad retired Firefighter Joe Torres immediately jumped into the water and held the boy to prevent him from drifting further outside the reef.

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 5, 3:54 AM SST, 8 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 3:54 AM SST, 8 hours 6 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 AM GUAM LST SUN JAN 6 2002

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

REMNANTS OF A DISSIPATING SHEAR LINE ARE LOCATED 100 MILES EITHER
SIDE OF A LINE FROM 13N130E THROUGH THE CENTRAL MARIANA ISLANDS TO
WAKE ISLAND TO 23N180. PATCHES OF CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS EXIST ALONG
THIS LINE.

THE COMBINATION OF WESTERLY MONSOONAL WIND FLOW ALONG THE EQUATOR
AND TRADE WIND CONVERGENCE TO THE NORTH OF THE EQUATOR IS CREATING
WIDESPREAD CLOUDINESS WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MOST OF THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA FROM CHUUK STATE
TO KOSRAE STATE AND ACROSS THE WESTERN-MOST MARSHALL ISLANDS. THE
MOST ACTIVE AREAS ARE LOCATED TO THE SOUTHWEST OF CHUUK 75 MILES
EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 6N145E TO 3N150E AND EAST OF POHNPEI TO
SOUTH OF KOSRAE OR 60 MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 9N153E TO THE
EQUATOR AND 164E.

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Saipan

When: January 5, 12:00 PM SST to 2:00 PM SST
Where: Saipan County, Chalon Kanoa
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

Every storm in Guam in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, January 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: 5279912.