Guam, 2014

Rip Current in Guam, September 26, 2014

September 26, 2014 · NWS GUM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

S. Marine.

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.

Rip currents on the north coast of Tinian claimed the life of a young U.S. Marine.

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 Sep 25, 7:50 AM UTC, 6 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 7:50 AM UTC, 6 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
550 PM CHST THU SEP 25 2014

ADDED MICRONESIAN DISCUSSIONS

.MARIANAS SYNOPSIS...
TROPICAL DEPRESSION KAMMURI DOMINATES THE WEATHER SCENE RIGHT NOW.
KAMMURI IS CENTERED JUST EAST OF THE FAR NORTHERN CNMI. KAMMURI IS A
LARGE SYSTEM WITH A MONSOON TAIL EXTENDING ALL THE WAY TO THE
PHILIPPINES. BEST LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITHIN THE MONSOON TAIL IS
SITUATED JUST TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE FORECAST ZONES...SO SHOWER
COVERAGE REMAINS ISOLATED.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
KEPT INHERITED FORECAST GRIDS AND REASONING UNCHANGED. DRY AIR
WRAPPING AROUND THE WEST SIDE OF KAMMURI SHOULD LIMIT SHOWER
COVERAGE TO ISOLATED ON FRIDAY...THEN ZONE OF CONVERGENT WINDS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE MONSOON TROUGH WILL ARRIVE FROM THE SOUTHEAST
FRIDAY NIGHT...THEN HANG AROUND. FORECAST FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS
FOR FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT ALREADY FAVORS THE
NOCTURNAL CONVECTIVE MAXIMUM. POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR MORE SCATTERED
SHOWERS OFF AND ON DURING DAYS 3 THROUGH 7. CONVERGENT MONSOONAL
FLOW WILL REMAIN IN PLACE DURING THAT TIME FRAME. HAVE KEPT
MENTION OF THUNDER THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. NEW CIRCULATION
DEVELOPING WITHIN THE MONSOON TROUGH WILL PROBABLY BRING MORE
SCATTERED SHOWER EVENTS TO THE FORECAST ZONES NEXT WEEK...BUT IT
IS TOO EARLY TO TELL WHERE AND WHEN THIS MIGHT HAPPEN.

&&

.MARINE...
NO CHANGES TO THE MARINE SWELL GRIDS OR FORECAST. LATEST
ALTIMETRY AND BUOY READINGS INDICATE COMBINED SEAS BETWEEN 5 AND
7 FEET. SWELL FROM KAMMURI WILL COMBINE WITH MONSOONAL SWELL TO
MAINTAIN MODERATE RIP CURRENT RISK ALONG ALL BUT EAST FACING
REEFS THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. IF MONSOON SURGE/KAMMURI BECOME
STRONGER THAN FORECAST...SURF ON NORTH AND WEST FACING EXPOSURES
COULD REACH HAZARDOUS LEVELS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.

&&

.EASTERN MICRONESIA...
MODELS TAKE A TROUGH CURRENTLY JUST EAST OF MAJURO AND AMPLIFY IT
INTO A CLOSED CIRCULATION SOUTH OF KWAJALEIN ON FRIDAY WITH A TROUGH
EXTENDING EASTWARD FROM IT. THIS IS EXPECTED TO BRING SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTROMS TO MAJURO TONIGHT...LASTING INTO
SATURDAY NIGHT. AS THE CIRCULATION MOVES WEST...A BELT OF WESTERLIES
IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP SOUTH OF IT. THIS CONVERGENT WESTERLY FLOW
WILL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDER TO KOSRAE FRI
NIGHT THRU SAT NIGHT...AND TO POHNPEI SUN-TUE.

&&

.WESTERN MICRONESIA...
AS TD/TS KAMMURI MOVES NORTH FROM THE MARIANAS...A RIDGE WILL KEEP
FAIRLY DRY WEATHER ACROSS CHUUK TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. BUT BY
LATE SATURDAY...KAMMURI WILL BREAK AWAY FROM THE SOUTHWESTERLIES
FLOWING INTO IT AND WEST WINDS WILL BE ESTABLISHED AGAIN FROM PALAU
TO SOUTH OF THE MARIANAS BEFORE LINKING UP WITH THE WEST WINDS SOUTH
OF POHNPEI TO FORM A NEW SURGE OF THE WESTERLY MONSOON. THIS
CONVERGENT FLOW IS EXPECTED TO BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS TO CHUUK BY SAT NIGHT...LASTING INTO TUESDAY AS THE
DEVELOPING CIRCULATION NORTH OF POHNPEI HELPS MAINTAIN THE SURGE.

OUT WEST...PALAU WILL SEE SCATTERED SHOWERS TONIGHT AS A WEAKENING
MONSOON TAIL TO KAMMURI SLOWLY LIFTS NORTH...GIVING WAY TO ISOLATED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FRI THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS TAIL WILL
BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO YAP SAT NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS IT CONTINUES
LIFTING NORTH AND RETREATING EASTWARD INTO THE RENEWED MONSOON SURGE
DEVELOPING TO THE EAST AS DISCUSSED ABOVE.

&&

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

MCELROY/MIDDLEBROOKE

Event by event

1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.

Rip Current, Northern Marianas

When
September 26, 12:00 AM GST to 8:00 PM GST
Where
Northern Marianas forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Newspaper

A 26 year old Marine from the Marine Wing Communication Squadron 18 based in Okinawa, Japan, was taking part in Exercise Valiant Shield and Forager Fury on Tinian. He went into the ocean on the northwest side of Tinian to cool off.|It was reported that he was swept over the reef. He may have been caught in a rip current. After a few days search by Saipan DPS, U.S Navy and Coast Guard crews he was presumed lost.

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, Northern Marianas2014-09-2626MaleIn 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 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, September 2014

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: 544313.