Rip Current in Guam, October 14, 2004

Name: Rip Current in Guam, October 14, 2004
Start: 2004-10-14T16:30
End: 2004-10-14T16:30
Location: Guam

October 14, 2004 · NWS GUA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 16-year-old boy drowned in strong rip currents off Ipan Beach, Talofofo, while fishing.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
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 16-year-old boy drowned in strong rip currents off Ipan Beach, Talofofo, while fishing.

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 Oct 14, 4:09 PM SST, 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 14, 4:09 PM SST, 21 minutes before

AREA SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
1 PM GUAM LST FRI OCT 15 2004

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

TYPHOON TOKAGE (27W) IS CENTERED NEAR 15N135E OR ABOUT 650 MILES
WEST OF THE MARIANAS. TYPHOON TOKAGE IS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 7 MPH
WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 115 MPH. HEAVY RAIN AND SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 120 MILES FROM THE CENTER.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND FARTHER OUT
BETWEEN 11N AND 18N FROM 130E TO 138E. SEE JTWC BULLETIN WTPN31 PGTW
FOR MORE DETAILS.

CONVERGENT INFLOW INTO TYPHOON TOKAGE IS CREATING TWO SEPERATE AREAS
OF NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERTORMS. THE FIRST IS BETWEEN
22N AND 25N FROM 134E TO 143E. THE SECOND IS BETWEEN 10N AND 19N
FROM 143E TO 152E...WHICH INCLUDES MOST OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS.

TROPICAL DEPRESSION 28W IS CENTERED NEAR 12N159E OR ABOUT 350 MILES
NORTH OF POHNPEI. TROPICAL DEPRESSION 28W IS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 12
MPH WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 35 MPH. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE FOUND BETWEEN 11N AND 15N FROM 159E TO
163E. SEE JTWC BULLETIN WTPN32 PGTW FOR MORE DETAILS.

A MONSOON TROUGH EXTENDS FROM 15N130E...THROUGH TYPHOON TOKAGE AND
TROPICAL DEPRESSION 28W...TO A WEAK CIRCULATION NEAR THE DATELINE
AND 9N. CONVERGENT WEST WINDS ALONG THE TROUGH AXIS ARE PRODUCING
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 8N AND 9N FROM
179E TO 180 AND FARTHER EAST.

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Guam

When: October 14, 4:30 PM SST
Where: Guam County, Talofofo
Deaths: 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
Rip Current, Guam	2004-10-14	16	Male	In Water	Direct

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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, October 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: 5432271.