Lightning Strike in Guam, June 1, 2003

Name: Lightning Strike in Guam, June 1, 2003
Start: 2003-06-01T15:00
End: 2003-06-01T17:00
Location: Guam

June 1, 2003 · NWS GUA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A lightning strike in the vicinity of Maite in Guam during the late afternoon. A surge from the lightning damaged the primary phone connection for the National Weather Service Office in Tiyan.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
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 lightning strike in the vicinity of Maite in Guam during the late afternoon. A surge from the lightning damaged the primary phone connection for the National Weather Service Office in Tiyan.

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 Jun 1, 4:13 AM SST, 10 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 4:13 AM SST, 10 hours 47 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 AM GUAM LST MON JUN 2 2003

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

A REVERSE-ORIENTED MONSOON TROUGH EXTENDS EASTWARD FROM TROPICAL
STORM NANGKA...LOCATED NEAR LUZON IN THE NORTHERN PHILLIPINES...TO
20N140E NORTHEASTWARD TO THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM LINFA IN
NORTHERN JAPAN. CONVERGENT WIND FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH...
AND FAVORABLE UPPER-LEVEL WINDS...ARE PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 13N AND 22N FROM 139E TO
142E...WITHIN 100 MILES OF A LINE FROM 18N142E TO 25N147E...AND
BETWEEN 11N AND 14N FROM 150E TO 154E.

A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE STRETCHES FROM 8N130E TO 7N139E TO
6N155E TO THE EQUATOR AND 163E. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE LOCATED
BETWEEN 4N AND 7N FROM 152E TO 157E.

AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE THAT EXTENDS FROM 24N180 TO
25N168E TO 15N160E TO 10N155E IS GENERATING SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 10N AND 15N FROM 158E TO 165E.

A WEAK CIRCULATION SOUTHEAST OF MAJURO IS GENERATING SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 3N AND 9N FROM 173E TO 178E.

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Guam

When: June 1, 3:00 PM SST to 5:00 PM SST
Where: Guam County, Central Portion
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Guam in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, June 2003

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: 5360419.