Guam, 2016

Coastal Flood in Guam, March 8 to 12, 2016

March 8 to 12, 2016 · NWS GUM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Long period swell combined with a high Spring tide caused coastal flooding in portions of the Marshall Islands.

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.

Long period swell combined with a high Spring tide caused coastal flooding in portions of the Marshall Islands.

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 Mar 7, 6:19 AM UTC, 7 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 6:19 AM UTC, 7 hours 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU
419 PM CHST MON MAR 7 2016

.SYNOPSIS...
A WEAK SHEAR LINE IS LOCATED BETWEEN TINIAN AND ROTA. MOSTLY CLOUDY
CONDITIONS AND ISOLATED SHOWERS ARE PRESENT TO THE NORTH OF ROTA WITH
THIS SYSTEM. MODERATE TO FRESH GUSTY TRADE WINDS ARE PRESENT ACROSS
THE REGION.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THE MAIN PLAYER IN TODAYS FORECAST IS THE SHEAR LINE THAT HAS DRIFTED
A BIT FURTHER SOUTH AND IS NOW LOCATED BETWEEN TINIAN AND ROTA. AS
EXPECTED...THIS SYSTEM IS RATHER UNDER-WHELMING. A FEW ADDITIONAL
SHOWERS ARE PRESENT OVER TINIAN AND SAIPAN ALONG WITH INCREASED CLOUD
COVER AND A LITTLE STRONGER WINDS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS REMAIN RATHER
LOW...WITH SAIPAN RECEIVING ONLY AROUND 0.04 INCHES SO FAR.
THEREFORE...THE ONLY MAJOR CHANGE TO THE INHERITED FORECAST WAS TO
POSTPONE MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS AND ISOLATED SHOWERS FOR AROUND 6
HOURS FOR GUAM AND ROTA. OTHERWISE...THE ENTIRE MARIANAS WILL REMAIN
FAIRLY DRY THROUGH THE NEXT WEEKEND.

&&

.MARINE...
A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE MARIANAS COASTAL
WATERS. SEAS AT THE TANAPAG BUOY HAVE REMAINED ABOVE 10 FEET THROUGH
THE DAY AND OCCASIONALLY RISEN AS HIGH AS 12 FEET. HIGHEST WINDS AND
SEAS WILL BE NEAR TINIAN AND SAIPAN WITH THE SHEAR LINE. THESE
CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY. WIND AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED
TO BEGIN TO SUBSIDE LATE TONIGHT AND SHOULD FALL BELOW SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY LEVELS BY TUESDAY EVENING.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
ALTHOUGH THE SHEAR LINE IS BRINGING A BIT OF AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS
TO GUAM FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL WITH
THESE SHOWERS WILL REMAIN RELATIVELY LOW. THESE SHOWERS WILL DO
LITTLE TO MITIGATE THE FIRE DANGER. VEGETATION AND FUELS WILL
CONTINUE TO DRY OUT AND THE KBDI...WHICH IS CURRENTLY IN THE HIGH
CATEGORY AT 598...WILL LIKELY INCREASE INTO THE EXTREME RANGE
TUESDAY.

&&

.EASTERN MICRONESIA...
A BROAD CIRCULATION/DISTURBANCE APPROACHING THE DATE LINE NEAR 4N
THIS AFTERNOON WILL LIKELY AFFECT EASTERN MICRONESIA AS THIS WEEK
PROGRESSES. LATEST GFS MODEL SHOWS THIS DISTURBANCE MOVING SLOWLY
WESTWARD WITH MOST OF THE SHOWERS MAINLY BETWEEN 3N AND 6N...SO THE
PREVIOUS FORECAST OF PERIODS AND TIMING FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AT
MAJURO...KOSRAE AND POHNPEI WERE TRIMMED BACK A LITTLE.

FRESH TO STRONG TRADE-WIND CONDITIONS ALONG WITH LONG-PERIOD NORTH
SWELL WILL CAUSE HAZARDOUS SEA CONDITIONS ACROSS EASTERN MICRONESIA
THIS WEEK AND HAZARDOUS SURF AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY FOR KOSRAE.

&&

.WESTERN MICRONESIA...
CHUUK...DRY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THE NEXT FEW DAYS. LATER THIS WEEK
SOME CLOUDS AND A FEW SHOWERS COULD MOVE TOWARD SOUTHERN CHUUK STATE
FROM EASTERN MICRONESIA...BUT RAINFALL WILL BE SPOTTY AT BEST. ASCAT
ANALYSIS SHOWS FRESH TO STRONG TRADE WINDS UPSTREAM FROM CHUUK WHICH
WILL CAUSE HAZARDOUS SEA CONDITIONS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AT LEAST.

VERY DRY TRADE-WIND WEATHER WILL PERSIST FOR YAP STATE THROUGH THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AT LEAST. PALAU...VERY DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED THE
NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AT LEAST...BUT THE GFS MODEL HAS BEEN INDICATING
A DISTURBANCE NEAR THE EQUATOR SOUTHEAST OF KOROR WILL START MOVING
TOWARD NORTHWEST BY WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY...AND IT COULD PROVIDE
SOME HELPFUL SHOWERS FOR THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU BY FRIDAY OR
SATURDAY. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND HOPE FOR THE BEST:).

&&

.GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GU...NONE.
MARIANAS WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CHST TUESDAY
     FOR PMZ151>154.

&&

KLEESCHULTE/SIMPSON

Event by event

1 coastal flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Coastal Flood, Marshall Islands

When
March 8, 12:00 AM GST to March 12, 12:00 AM GST
Where
Marshall Islands forecast zone
Reported by
Newspaper

Long period north swells produced by strong to near-gale winds north of Wake Island moved through the Marshall Islands. These swells combined with a King Tide and large east to northeast wind-waves produced coastal inundation and minor flooding across portions of the Marshall Islands. A King tide is a colloquial term for an especially high tide, such as a perigean spring tide.| On the 9th of March the waves inundated low lying areas in the Marshall Islands, tossing rocks and debris into roads, backyards and homes. In Majuro some houses were flooded with about six inches of sea water. Motorist had to navigate around sand, rocks and debris tossed up by the waves onto the two-lane road that runs by Majuro's International Airport terminal and runway. No one was injured and damage was slight.| On the 9th of March the flooding forced several hundred Bikini Islanders|on Kili Island (175 miles SE of Majuro) to move from the northern part of Kili to a different part of this mile long island when their homes flooded that afternoon. It is the second time in as many years that high tides have caused significant flooding on Kili.

What these are

Coastal Flood
Flooding of coastal land by the sea, from storm surge, onshore wind or high tides.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Guam in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, March 2016

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: 620340.