High Surf, Tutuila
- When
- December 20, 12:00 AM SST to 3:00 AM SST
- Where
- Tutuila forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Broadcast Media
Large surfs and strong rip currents swept away an unwary fisherman in the village of Vaitogi.
High Surf in American Samoa, December 20, 2020
An active surface trough and a building ridge produced strong winds that influenced hazardous rip currents and high surf conditions for the Islands, December 17th to the 20th.
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 ASO wrote it up.
An active surface trough and a building ridge produced strong winds that influenced hazardous rip currents and high surf conditions for the Islands, December 17th to the 20th.
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, Tutuila | 2020-12-20 | 36 | 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
- Dense Fog in California, December 20 to 21, 2020
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Washington, December 20 to 22, 2020
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Montana, December 20 to 22, 2020
- Dense Fog in California, December 20 to 21, 2020
- High Wind in Colorado, December 20 to 21, 2020
- High Wind in South Dakota, December 20, 2020
- Freezing Fog in Idaho, December 20, 2020
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, December 20, 2020
- High Wind in Wyoming, December 20, 2020
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in Gulf of Mexico, December 20, 2020
More
Every storm in American Samoa in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in American Samoa, December 2020
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: 937315.