Guam, 2013

Rip Current in Guam, November 20 to 21, 2013

November 20 to 21, 2013 · NWS GUM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A fisherman drowns on Guam on the 20th of November.

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.

A fisherman drowns on Guam on the 20th of November.

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 20, 5:00 AM UTC, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 20, 5:00 AM UTC, 7 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
300 PM CHST WED NOV 20 2013

.MARIANAS SYNOPSIS...
SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A WEAK TRADE-WIND DISTURBANCE MOVING WEST
THROUGH THE MARIANAS...WITH QUITE A BIT OF CLOUDINESS...ISOLATED
SHOWERS AND EVEN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS INDICATED FROM TIME TO
TIME BY LIGHTNING STRIKE DATA.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
NEW 00Z GFS CONTINUES TO INDICATE LINGERING POTENTIAL FOR ONE OR
TWO THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT...BUT DRYING MID-LEVELS ARE INDICATED
FOR THURSDAY. THUS...HAVE ISOLATED THUNDER FOR TONIGHT BUT HAVE
REMOVED ANY THUNDER FOR THURSDAY. OTHERWISE...NO SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH PARTLY OR MOSTLY CLOUDY
SKIES AND ISOLATED SHOWERS.

&&

.MARINE...
FAIRLY STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH 5-7 FOOT
SEAS...MODERATE TO FRESH TRADES...AND A MODERATE RIP CURRENT RISK.

&&

.EASTERN MICRONESIA...
SHOWERS ARE ON THE DECREASE OVER MAJURO THIS AFTERNOON AS THE
CONVERGENCE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONVECTION DRIFTS FURTHER SOUTH.
THE BAND OF TRADE-WIND CONVERGENCE WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE
SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER KOSRAE THROUGH THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. AS THE
CONVERGENCE CONTINUES TO DRIFT WESTWARD...EXPECT THE CONVECTION TO
SLOWLY BEGIN TO CLEAR OVER KOSRAE THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY
MORNING. STRONGEST CONVERGENCE WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF POHNPEI
KEEPING MOST OF THE CONVECTION AWAY FROM THE ISLAND. A FEW SHOWERS
ARE DRIFTING A BIT NORTHWARD SO FELT IT WAS PRUDENT TO ADD A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF THUNDER TO THE POHNPEI FORECAST FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.
A SLIGHTLY DRIER PATTERN WILL DRIFT WESTWARD FROM NEAR MAJURO TO
KOSRAE BY FRIDAY. A SIMILAR TRADE-WIND CONVERGENCE PATTERN IS
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE REGION THIS WEEKEND...BRINGING
SCATTERED SHOWERS BACK TO MAJURO AND KOSRAE SUNDAY THAT WILL PUSH
INTO POHNPEI MONDAY.

&&

.WESTERN MICRONESIA...
A TRADE-WIND DISTURBANCE EAST OF YAP AND KOROR CONTINUES TO TRACK
WESTWARD...BRINGING ISOLATED CONVECTION TO BOTH LOCATIONS THIS
AFTERNOON. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE IN TO KOROR BY
THURSDAY MORNING BUT SHOULD REMAIN SOUTH OF YAP. DRY CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OVER KOROR FOR THE WEEKEND...BUT AN OVERALL UNSTABLE
PATTERN WILL KEEP THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST THROUGH MONDAY.
LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER YAP STATE
MONDAY...BRINGING A GREATER CHANCE OF CONVECTION TO THE AREA EARLY
NEXT WEEK. DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE AT CHUUK THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK UNTIL A TRADE-WIND DISTURBANCE MOVES IN FROM
EASTERN MICRONESIA...BRINGING INCREASING CLOUDS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS TO CHUUK STATE FOR THE WEEKEND.

&&

.GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GU...NONE.
MARIANAS WATERS...NONE.
&&

MIDDLEBROOKE/KLEESCHULTE

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Guam

When
November 20, 10:00 PM GST to November 21, 1:00 AM GST
Where
Guam forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Newspaper

On the night of November 20th the Guam Fire Department received a phone call about a missing fisherman. The call came in around 1025 pm and originated from two men who managed to swim to shore. Three men had gone spear fishing that night in the Asan Channel not far from the War in the Pacific Park. One of the trio was swept out to sea by rough waves. His two companions swam to shore after this wave hit them and immediately called for help. The Fire Department and Coast Guard conducted a three hour search which unfortunately recovered the man’s body. Data from the Ritidian Point buoy located not too far from the area showed that a brief period of higher surf and strong rips currents could have been possible around the time of the event.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Rip Current, Guam2013-11-2022MaleIn WaterDirect

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 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, November 2013

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: 486061.