Guam, 2006

Rip Current in Guam, November 12, 2006

November 12, 2006 · NWS GUM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Two women, tourists from Japan, were body-boarding near the reef line at Ipan Beach on Guam's east coast. After by-standers called out to the women to come back in because of strong rip currents, one made it in, but the other lost her board and went over the reef.

The toll

Deaths
0
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 GUM wrote it up.

Two women, tourists from Japan, were body-boarding near the reef line at Ipan Beach on Guam's east coast. After by-standers called out to the women to come back in because of strong rip currents, one made it in, but the other lost her board and went over the reef. When by-standers brought her in, she had no pulse and was not breathing, but was revived with CPR and hospitalized.

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 Guam wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 11, 8:00 PM UTC, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 11, 8:00 PM UTC, 4 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
600 AM LST SUN NOV 12 2006

.SYNOPSIS...
TYPICAL DRY SEASON PATTERN ANTICIPATED FOR THE MARIANAS AS HIGH
PRESSURE DOMINATES AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
WHATS THE OLD SAYING? YESTERDAY/S WEATHER IS TODAY/S WEATHER. COINED
PHRASE DOES APPLY FOR THE TROPICAL MARIANA ISLAND CHAIN THIS
FORECAST CYCLE. CURRENT SATELLITE SNAPSHOT SHOWS FORECAST AREA IN
VOID BETWEEN STORM SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVING EAST OF
JAPAN...AND WEAK MONSOON TROUGH SITUATED WELL SOUTH OF 10N. PER PGUA
DOPPLER...SHOWERS CONFINED TO MESOSCALE FEATURE NORTHWEST OF ROTA.
LITTLE ACTIVITY NOTED UPSTREAM...EVEN AT THE DIURNAL PEAK.

AFTER PERUSING THE GFSLR...PROSPECTS FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE
DEVELOPMENT THRU NOV 20 LOOK BLEAK FOR THE WESTPAC.

&&

.MARINE...
IPAN BUOY JUMPED TO NEARLY 8 FEET THIS MORNING. WAVEWATCH MODEL IN
BALLPARK. SURF HEIGHTS EXPECTED TO FALL BELOW HAZARDOUS LEVELS
MONDAY.

&&

.GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GU...HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM LST MONDAY FOR GUZ001-GUZ002-
     GUZ003-GUZ004.

&&

HENDRICKS

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Guam

When
November 12, 10:00 AM GST to 10:10 AM GST
Where
Guam forecast zone
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Newspaper

Two women, tourists from Japan, were body-boarding near the reef line at Ipan Beach on Guam's east coast. After by-standers called out to the women to come back in because of strong currents, one made it in, but the other lost her board and went over the reef. When by-standers brought her in, she had no pulse and was not breathing, but was revived with CPR and hospitalized.

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

More

Every storm in Guam in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, November 2006

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: 9093.