Lightning Strike in Guam, September 22, 2003

Name: Lightning Strike in Guam, September 22, 2003
Start: 2003-09-22T18:30
End: 2003-09-22T19:00
Location: Guam

September 22, 2003 · NWS GUA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning caused a power outage over portions of Guam on the evening of the 22nd. The outages were reported to the Guam Power Authority at 1830.

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.

Lightning caused a power outage over portions of Guam on the evening of the 22nd. The outages were reported to the Guam Power Authority at 1830. Parts of Santa Rita and Agana Heights had power out for about 90 minutes.

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 Sep 22, 3:48 PM SST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 22, 3:48 PM SST, 2 hours 42 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 PM GUAM LST TUE SEP 23 2003

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

A MONSOON TROUGH EXTENDS FROM 17N130E SOUTHEAST THROUGH A WEAK
CIRCULATION CENTER NORTH OF YAP NEAR 11N140E...THEN EAST THROUGH A
SECOND CIRCULATION NORTH OF POHNPEI NEAR 10N160E AND CONTINUES
EASTWARD TO 4N180. LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE
TROUGH IS PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
BETWEEN 12N AND 1N FROM 132E TO 153E AND WITHIN 60 MILES OF A LINE
FROM 11N164E TO 1N159E. THIS AREA INCLUDES THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU AND
YAP...POHNPEI...CHUUK... AND KOSRAE STATES.

LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG THE SOUTHERN END OF THE MONSOON TROUGH
IS GENERATING ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 3N AND
EQUATOR FROM 177E TO 180.

AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH NORTHWEST OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS COMBINED
WITH LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE NORTH OF THE MONSOON TROUGH IS PRODUCING
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 22N AND 12N
FROM 137E TO 150E.

A WEAK UPPER-LEVEL LOW WEST OF WAKE ISLAND CENTERED NEAR 20N162E IS
PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 21N
AND 15N FROM 158E TO 165E.

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Guam

When: September 22, 6:30 PM SST to 7:00 PM SST
Where: Guam County, Agana Heights
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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, September 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: 5338996.