Tropical Storm in Guam, April 3 to 4, 2007

TYPHOON KONG-REY|Tropical Depression (TD) 01W developed about 200 miles east-northeast of Chuuk on the evening of March 31st. Moving steadily northwest at about 15 mph, TD 01W became Tropical Storm Kong-Rey early on April 1st, and intensified into a typhoon on the morning of April 2nd. Typhoon Kong-Rey continued northwest, passing 35 miles northeast of Saipan at 0700 GST on the 3rd with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Kong-Rey then turned north as it intensified to 105 mph, passing 100 miles west-southwest of Pagan Island at 2000 GST on the evening of the 3rd, and 100 miles west-southwest of Agrihan at 0200 GST the morning of the 4th. During its passage, Typhoon Kong-Rey brought marginal tropical storm conditions to Saipan and Tinian, and brief periods of tropical storm conditions to Pagan and Agrihan. |On Saipan, the highest sustained wind and peak gust recorded at the airport were from the west-southwest at 30 mph and 38 mph, respectively, at 0854 GST on the 3rd. On neighboring Tinian, the highest sustained wind was from the west at 28 mph at 0757 GST on the 3rd, followed by the peak gust of 39 mph from the west an hour later at 0857 GST. Kong-Rey brought 2.70 inches of rain to Saipan in the 24 hours ending at 1300 GST on the 3rd, and the lowest recorded pressure was 995.3 mb at 0654 GST on the 3rd.|At Pagan Island, the highest recorded sustained wind at the automated observing station was 35 mph from the east-southeast in the hour ending at 2300 GST. The peak gust was from the southeast at 77 mph in the hour ending on the 4th at 0300 GST. Based on the peak gust and the poor exposure of the wind equipment on Pagan, it is likely that sustained winds actually reached near 50 mph. The lowest recorded pressure was 1000.6 mb on the 3rd at 1600 and 1700 GST. In the 24 hours ending at 0600 GST on the 4th, 2.58 inches of rain was recorded, and a storm total of 3.58 inches fell from 0700 GST on the 3rd through 1500 GST on the 4th. Agrihan has no observing station, but conditions there were likely similar to those on Pagan. |Total damage was only about $10,000, mainly due to a snapped power pole and some power lines brought down by falling trees on Saipan.