High Surf, Guam
- When
- January 22, 7:00 PM GST to 10:00 PM GST
- Where
- Guam forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Newspaper
High Surf in Guam, January 22, 2011
Four men were setting nets and fishing off Ipan Beach on the east coast of Guam between 19:00 and 21:00 GST the evening of January 22nd, when a wave washed them off the reef. Strong currents carried three of them into the open ocean while the other was able to swim to shore.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- 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.
Four men were setting nets and fishing off Ipan Beach on the east coast of Guam between 19:00 and 21:00 GST the evening of January 22nd, when a wave washed them off the reef. Strong currents carried three of them into the open ocean while the other was able to swim to shore. A second man made it back to shore about an hour later. A search was mounted for the other two men, but several days of searching failed to locate them, and they are 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 22, 8:33 AM UTC, 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 22, 8:33 AM UTC, 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU 633 PM CHST SAT JAN 22 2011 .SYNOPSIS... PGUA WSR-88D SHOWS ALMOST NO SHOWERS IN THE MARIANAS WATERS. THE OLD SHEAR LINE HAS PUSHED SOUTH OF GUAM WATERS WHILE A NEW ONE IS GATHERING STEAM TO THE NORTHWEST. && .DISCUSSION... GFS40 AND ECMWF-HIRES MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT THAT ANOTHER SHEAR LINE WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE NORTH IN THE THURSDAY TO SUNDAY TIME FRAME. BOTH MODELS EVENTUALLY FEATURE STRONG TO NEAR GALE NORTHEAST WINDS IN THE MARIANAS WATERS...SO MARINERS AND BEACHGOERS SHOULD WATCH FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SMALL CRAFT AND HIGH SURF ADVISORIES. OTHERWISE THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS SHOULD BE TYPICAL DRY SEASON TRADE-WIND REGIME TYPE WEATHER. && .EASTERN MICRONESIA... THE ONLY MAJOR WEATHER SYSTEM IN THE REGION IS A SURFACE TROUGH NOW JUST EAST OF KOSRAE. THERE HAVE BEEN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE TRACK OF THIS TROUGH WILL TAKE IT JUST SOUTH OF POHNPEI ON SUNDAY...WHICH COULD TRIGGER A FEW SHOWERS AT POHNPEI INTO SUNDAY EVENING. AN AREA OF MODEST TRADE CONVERGENCE IS EVIDENT ALONG 7N STRETCHING EASTWARD FROM EAST OF THE MARSHALLS TO BEYOND THE DATE LINE. AS THIS AREA PROGRESSES WESTWARD...IT WILL PROVIDE A SLIGHTLY WETTER PATTERN OVER MAJURO TONIGHT BUT THE MODELS WEAKEN THIS SYSTEM AS IT MOVES WESTWARD. KOSRAE COULD RECEIVE A FEW SHOWERS SUNDAY FROM THIS DISTURBANCE AND POHNPEI MAY RECEIVE SIMILAR WEATHER TOWARD MIDWEEK. THE COMBINATION OF A RESIDUAL N-NW SWELL AND A SECONDARY NORTH SWELL WILL CAUSE HIGH SURF CONDITIONS TO LINGER ACROSS CHUUK... POHNPEI AND KOSRAE INTO MONDAY. BUILDING TRADE-WIND SWELLS AND WIND WAVES ARE GOING TO PRODUCE HIGHER SURF ACROSS THE MARSHALLS BUT NO ADVISORY IS ANTICIPATED. && .WESTERN MICRONESIA... CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH A SHEAR LINE IS NORTH AND WEST OF CHUUK COASTAL WATERS THIS EVENING. THE DIFFUSE WESTERN END OF THIS SHEAR LINE IS APPROACHING YAP WATERS. THE MODELS KEEP THE SHEAR LINE NORTH OF CHUUK AND IT EVENTUALLY BREAKS UP. THE GFS HAS THE WEATHER ALONG THE WESTERN END OF THE SHEAR LINE FLARING UP OVER YAP EARLY SUNDAY. BY SUNDAY EVENING...WINDS ALONG THE WESTERN HALF OF THE SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE WILL BACK TO A SOUTHEASTERLY DIRECTION. THIS SHOULD REINFORCE THE WEAKENING OF THE SHEAR LINE OVER YAP AND CHUUK. TOWARD MIDWEEK...INCREASING TRADE CONVERGENCE FROM THE EAST MIGHT INCREASE THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS FOR CHUUK. LATEST IR SATELLITE IMAGERY REVEALS THE NEAR- EQUATORIAL TROUGH THAT WAS SOUTH OF YAP AND KOROR HAS SHIFTED WESTWARD. THE MODEL SOLUTIONS DIVERGE AT THIS POINT FOR KOROR AND YAP. TOWARD MIDWEEK...ANOTHER SHEAR LINE SINKING SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE PHILIPPINE SEA MIGHT PRODUCE CONVECTION OVER KOROR AND YAP. && .GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GU...NONE. MARIANAS WATERS...NONE. && STANKO/DEVITA
Event by event
1 high surf. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Surf, Guam | 2011-01-22 | 25 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| High Surf, Guam | 2011-01-22 | 25 | Male | In Water | Direct |
What these are
- High Surf
- Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Blizzard in Alaska, January 22 to 24, 2011
- Winter Storm and Cold in Nebraska, January 22 to 23, 2011
- Dense Fog in Florida, January 22, 2011
- Wildfire in Georgia, January 22 to 23, 2011
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Montana, January 22 to 23, 2011
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, January 22, 2011
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 22, 2011
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, January 22 to 23, 2011
- Winter Storm in Missouri, January 22 to 23, 2011
- High Wind in Montana, January 22 to 23, 2011
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, January 22, 2011
- Frost and Freeze in Texas, January 22, 2011
More
Every storm in Guam in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, January 2011
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: 274062.