Rip Current, Guam
- When
- January 27, 11:15 AM GST to 11:30 AM GST
- Where
- Guam forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Newspaper
Rip Current in Guam, January 27, 2007
Five airmen were knocked over by a wave that crossed the reef into the cordoned-off swimming area at about 11:15 GST on 27 January. Three airmen swam back to shore and one was rescued, but the fifth airman never surfaced and was swept past the reef out to sea.
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 GUM wrote it up.
Five airmen were knocked over by a wave that crossed the reef into the cordoned-off swimming area at about 11:15 GST on 27 January. Three airmen swam back to shore and one was rescued, but the fifth airman never surfaced and was swept past the reef out to sea. He has never been found, and is presumed drowned.
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 Jan 26, 5:15 PM UTC, 8 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 5:15 PM UTC, 8 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU 315 AM LST SAT JAN 27 2007 .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH MOVES TO THE WEST AWAY FROM THE MARIANAS AS A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM REBUILDS TO THE NORTH. SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS ARE CONFINED OVER WESTERN HALF OF THE LOCAL COASTAL WATERS. MOST LIGHT SHOWERS OVER THE ISLANDS WERE TAPERED OFF A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO. THE ISLANDS ARE SITUATED BETWEEN HIGHER PRESSURE TO THE NORTHEAST AND LOWER PRESSURE TO THE SOUTHWEST...A TYPICAL TREND OF PACKING PRESSURE GRADIENT AND HENCE THE ENHANCEMENT OF TRADE WINDS. VAD WIND SHOWS AN INCREASING TREND OF TRADE WINDS WITH UP TO 30 KT EAST FLOW ALOFT TO 5 TO 6 KFT. RADAR STILL SHOWS A LITTLE REMNANTS OF SPOTTY SHOWERS EAST OF GUAM AND ROTA COASTAL WATERS. SKY IS CLEARING OUT FROM THE EASTERN HORIZON EARLY THIS SATURDAY MORNING. TWINKLE LITTLE STARS ARE VISIBLE FILTERED OUT FROM THINNING CLOUDS. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY ALSO SHOWS THINNING OUT MIDDLE TO HIGH CLOUDS UNDER A MODERATE SUBSIDENCE ALOFT. && .DISCUSSION... MODELS ARRIVED A LITTLE LATE THIS SATURDAY MORNING. AS USUAL...GFS IS THE MODEL OF THE DAY WITH A GOOD INITIALIZATION. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD TO THE NORTHEAST THROUGH TONIGHT WHILE A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTH OF YAP CONTINUES TO MOVING WEST AND WEAKEN. THIS SYNOPTIC SETTING INCREASES THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE MARIANAS. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL DIVE SOUTHWARD TO NORTHERN CNMI NORTH OF SAIPAN BY MONDAY AFTERNOON...IN WHICH TIME THE TRADE WINDS SHOULD SUBSIDE. AT UPPER LEVEL...HIGH PRESSURE ANCHORED OVER JUST SOUTH OF WAKE ISLAND MIGRATES WESTWARD A LITTLE IN TIME AND EXPANDING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL GRANT THE LOCAL REGION FOR A CLASSICAL FAIR WEATHER THROUGH THE END OF FORECAST PERIOD. THE SHEAR LINE NORTH OF NORTHERN CNMI CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST AND WEAKEN...EXPECT NO DIRECT NOR SIDE EFFECTS FROM THE SHEAR LINE. && .MARINE... IPAN BUOY REPORTS 7 TO 8 FT OVERNIGHT. EXPECT TRADE WINDS PICK UP BY MID-DAY TO BECOME FRESH THIS AFTERNOON...AND PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST LATE SUNDAY EVENING. WILL ISSUE A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. COMBO WITH PERSISTENT EAST SWELL...WILL KEEP THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. && .GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GU...HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM LST TUESDAY FOR GUZ001>004. MARIANAS WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM LST SUNDAY FOR PMZ151>154. && AHN
Event by event
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
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 | 2007-01-27 | 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
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 27 to 28, 2007
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 27 to 28, 2007
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 27 to 29, 2007
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 27 to 28, 2007
- Lake-Effect Snow in Wisconsin, January 27 to 28, 2007
- Lake-Effect Snow in Indiana, January 27 to 29, 2007
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in Gulf of Mexico, January 27, 2007
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, January 27 to 28, 2007
- Blizzard in Alaska, January 27 to 28, 2007
More
Every storm in Guam in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, January 2007
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: 12527.