Name: Rip Current in Guam, December 21, 2008
Start: 2008-12-21T14:57
End: 2008-12-21T15:00
Location: Guam

The toll

Deaths: 0
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.

A 17-year-old boy was kayaking with a friend in rough waters outside the reef at First Beach in Ipan, Guam, when a wave capsized their kayaks. The friend was able to get to shore, but the boy was pulled out to sea by strong currents. Searches over the next few days were hampered by rough seas, and the boy was never found.

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 Dec 20, 9:38 PM UTC, 7 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 9:38 PM UTC, 7 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
738 AM CHST SUN DEC 21 2008

.SYNOPSIS...
PGUA WSR-88D SHOWS ISOLATED SHOWERS MOVING THROUGH THE MARIANAS.
IR SATELLITE SHOWS SOME UPSTREAM CLEARING IN STORE FOR LATER THIS
MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON. A DRY SEASON TRADE WIND PATTERN IS
FIRMLY IN PLACE.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
DRY TRADE WIND PATTERN REMAINS UNCHANGED THROUGH DAY 5 IN BOTH THE
GFS40 AND ECMWF-HIRES. AROUND DAY 6 OR 7 A SHEAR LINE HAS DRAWN
NEAR TO THE NORTHWEST. WHILE IT SEEMS UNABLE TO MAKE IT ALL THE
WAY BY ITSELF...THE MODELS PROG A COUPLE OF REINFORCING SHOTS OF
COLD AIR BEHIND IT. THESE ARE FORECAST TO PUSH THE SHEAR LINE INTO
THE MARIANAS WATERS. THIS SHOULD INCREASE WINDS AND MAY INCREASE
SHOWER ACTIVITY. IF THE WINDS INCREASE BUT THE SHOWERS DO NOT THIS
MAY POSE A PROBLEM FOR FIRE WEATHER.

&&

.MARINE...
VAD WIND PROFILE SHOWS 2000 FOOT WINDS OF 23 TO 27 KNOTS. ALLOWING
80 PERCENT OF THIS TO REACH THE SURFACE WOULD DELIVER VALUES OF 18
TO 22 KNOTS. THIS JUST REACHES THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA
OF 22 KNOTS. SO WHILE THE METAR WINDS AND THE BUOY WAVES SEEM A
BIT LOW FOR AN ADVISORY...HAVE LEFT IT UNCHANGED BASED ON THE VWP.
WINDS AND WAVES SHOULD INCREASE FURTHER TONIGHT.

&&

.EASTERN MICRONESIA...
LEFT THE PREVIOUS FORECAST VIRTUALLY UNTOUCHED. SHOWER COVERAGE WILL
REMAIN LARGELY ISOLATED THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD.

ISSUED A HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR NORTH FACING SHORES THIS MORNING FOR
POHNPEI AS QUIKSCAT AND WW3 MODEL OUTPUT INDICATE LONG PERIOD
NORTHEAST SWELL ASSOCIATED WITH A POTENT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WEST OF
HAWAII ARRIVING LATER TODAY. HIGH SURF ADVISORY WILL LIKELY NEED TO
BE ISSUED FOR KOSRAE AND MAJURO LATER TODAY. ADVISORIES FOR ALL
LOCATIONS COULD LINGER INTO THE WEEKEND. WILL MONITOR THE SITUATION
FOR POSSIBLE HIGH SURF WARNING CRITERIA ON MONDAY...ESPECIALLY FOR
MAJURO.

&&

.WESTERN MICRONESIA...
LITTLE CHANGES TO THE FORECAST HERE TOO. LACK OF DISCREET WEATHER
SYSTEMS OVER THE REGION SHOULD ENSURE GENERALLY FAIR WEATHER
CONDITIONS THROUGH THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

WILL PROBABLY NEED TO ISSUE HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR CHUUK TODAY AS
SWELL COMPONENTS ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG TRADES AND FROM A
LOW-PRESSURE WEST OF HAWAII ARRIVE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
RESPECTIVELY. SWELL ANCHORED BY STRONG TRADES WILL BUILD OVER THE
NEXT COUPLE DAYS FOR YAP AND KOROR...THOUGH SURF SHOULD REMAIN ABOUT
A 1 OR 2 BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. WE WILL MONITOR THE SITUATION
CLOSELY FOR ANY CHANGES.

&&

.GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GU...NONE.
MARIANAS WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 4 PM CHST MONDAY FOR
     PMZ151>154.

&&

STANKO/LEE

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Guam

When: December 21, 2:57 PM GST to 3:00 PM GST
Where: Guam forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, December 2008

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: 141654.