High Surf in Guam, August 21, 2004

Name: High Surf in Guam, August 21, 2004
Start: 2004-08-21T12:30
End: 2004-08-21T12:30
Location: Guam

August 21, 2004 · NWS GUA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A male Chinese tourist, 38, was taking pictures of his friends on the rocks of the Grotto at Marpi, Saipan. A very large wave came in suddenly, and swept him out over the reef.

The toll

Deaths: 1
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 male Chinese tourist, 38, was taking pictures of his friends on the rocks of the Grotto at Marpi, Saipan. A very large wave came in suddenly, and swept him out over the reef. His body was never recovered. One of the friends was injured, requiring hospital care. The high surf was associated with the approach of Typhoon Chaba, which moved through the Mariana Islands over the following two days.

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 Aug 21, 3:51 AM SST, 8 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 3:51 AM SST, 8 hours 39 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 AM GUAM LST SUN AUG 22 2004

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

TYPHOON CHABA IS CENTERED ABOUT 350 MILES EAST OF GUAM NEAR 14N150E
AND IS MOVING WEST AT 16 MPH WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 85 MPH.
HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140 MILES FROM THE
CENTER. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND FURTHER
OUT TO AN AREA BETWEEN 9N AND 17N FROM 146E TO 153E. SEE NWS PUBLIC
ADVISORY WTPQ32 PGUM AND JOINT TYPHOON WARNING CENTER BULLETIN
WTPN32 PGTW FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

TYPHOON AERE IS CENTERED NEAR 19N131E AND IS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15
MPH WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 75 MPH. HEAVY RAIN AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 120 MILES FROM THE CENTER.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND FURTHER OUT TO
AN AREA BETWEEN 15N AND 22N FROM 130E TO 134E AND BETWEEN 22N AND
25N FROM 130E TO 140E. SEE JOINT TYPHOON WARNING CENTER BULLETIN
WTPN33 PGTW FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

A MONSOON TROUGH STRETCHES FROM TYPHOON AERE TO TYPHOON CHABA TO
8N168E. THE EAST END OF THE TROUGH IS PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS POHNPEI AND KOSRAE STATES WITHIN
140 MILES OF A LINE FROM 13N153E TO 6N165E...AND NEAR ENEWETAK
BETWEEN 11N AND 15N FROM 160E TO 164E.

CONVERGENT TRADE WINDS ARE GENERATING SCATTERED SHOWERS NORTHEAST OF
MAJURO BETWEEN 7N AND 14N FROM 171E TO 180 AND SOUTH OF MAJURO
BETWEEN 2N AND 4N FROM 171E TO 173E.

Event by event

1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Saipan

When: August 21, 12:30 PM SST
Where: Saipan forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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
High Surf, Saipan	2004-08-21	38	Male	In Water	Direct

What these are

High Surf: Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Guam in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, August 2004

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: 5432264.