Drought in Guam, March 1 to 31, 2022

Name: Drought in Guam, March 1 to 31, 2022
Start: 2022-03-01T00:00
End: 2022-03-31T23:59
Location: Guam

March 1 to 31, 2022 · NWS GUM · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Extreme Drought Continues for the Northern Marshall Islands, while Severe Drought starts to improve for Northern Chuuk Islands.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Extreme Drought Continues for the Northern Marshall Islands, while Severe Drought starts to improve for Northern Chuuk 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 Feb 28, 8:24 AM UTC, 5 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 8:24 AM UTC, 5 hours 36 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tiyan GU
624 PM ChST Mon Feb 28 2022

.Marianas Synopsis...
Fresh to strong trade winds prevail in the Marianas, with scattered
showers over Guam after midnight. Ipan buoy indicates seas are about
7 feet.

&&

.Discussion...
Only minor changes were made to the forecast, mainly the addition of
scattered showers in the forecast for Guam tonight after midnight
through early Tuesday morning. Afterwards, the region will see
on-and-off showers with slightly more showers coming early this
weekend, followed by drier conditions thereafter.

&&

.Marine...
An easterly trade-wind swell continues to produce a high rip current
risk along east facing reefs of the Marianas, now at least through
Tuesday night. Combined seas of 8 to 10 feet, in addition to
scatterometer support for winds above 22 kt criteria in the coastal
waters, indicates hazardous seas to small craft. As such, the
Small Craft Advisory is still valid through Tuesday afternoon. The
elevated seas will last through the midweek, before starting to
diminish thereafter to between 5 and 7 feet by the weekend.

&&

.Fire weather...
0.03 inches of rain fell yesterday, with only a trace since midnight.
This has allowed the KBDI to increase to 641, which is in the high
category; under strong winds, this puts the value in the very high
category. Even though Guam is expected to receive more showers
after midnight, the rain amount would not be enough to significantly
alter the KBDI. In addition, the winds are expected to remain
breezy through Wednesday evening. As such, the Fire Weather Watch
remains in effect through Wednesday evening as well.

&&

.Eastern Micronesia...
Satellite shows a weak and broad ITZC developing across eastern
Micronesia with areas of scattered showers between 3N and 10N from
east of the date line westward past Majuro and Kwajalein. From
there, showers and isolated thunderstorms are more concentrated
across Kosrae and Pohnpei. Moderate to fresh trade winds are seen
across the region, with some strong trades near Majuro. Over the
next few days, models develop the ITCZ slowly across the east, until
by Thursday and Friday it is producing a fairly concentrated band of
moderate to heavy showers and thunderstorms. For Pohnpei and Kosrae,
rainfall looks to be light to moderate through Wednesday, with
locally heavier showers and thunderstorms possible for Thursday
through Saturday. At Majuro, scattered showers are forecast for
Tuesday through Wed night, but only isolated for Thursday and Friday
as the ITCZ band sags to the south. But scattered showers return on
Saturday as the band of rain works back northward. By the end of the
week, rainfall will likely amount to antwhere from 3 to 5 inches at
all three locations, with more of the rain after mid-week.

Hazardous marine conditions should abate by Thursday at Pohnpei and
Wednesday at Kosrae, as seas gradually diminish. But for Majuro,
trades will be fresh to strong Tue-Fri, with seas up to 10 ft all
week. High Surf Advisories continue for east/north facing reefs of
Pohnpei and Kosrae. For Majuro, cancelled the advisory for north
facing reefs, where surf should stay below 12 ft, but high surf
up to 12 ft will continue along east facing reefs the next few days.

&&

.Western Micronesia...
The western end of the ITZC is seen on satellite just east of Chuuk,
but eroding as it pushes west. A small trade-wind disturbance is
approaching Guam on its way to Yap, where it should bring scattered
showers on Tuesday. Otherwise, fairly quiet weather is expected
until Wednesday, when a disturbance develops south of Guam at the
western end of the ITCZ. The GFS develops a broad circulation out of
this disturbance east of Yap and Palau by Thursday, and moves it
over Palau Fri night and Saturday. As all this takes place,
scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected for Chuuk Thu-Fri,
at Yap Thu-Sat, and for Koror Fri-Sat.

Marine conditions have eased for Yap, where the High Surf Advisory
is no longer in effect, but high surf remains for east and north
facing reefs of Chuuk for a couple of more days.

&&

.GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GU...High Rip Current Risk through late Tuesday night for GUZ001>004.

     Fire Weather Watch through Wednesday evening for GUZ001.

MP...None.
Marianas Waters...Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM ChST Tuesday for
     PMZ151>154.

&&

Marianas: E.Pavliukoit
Micronesia: Middlebrooke

Event by event

2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Micronesia

When: March 1, 12:00 AM GST to March 25, 6:00 PM GST
Where: Micronesia forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Severe Drought (D2) conditions that began in the middle of February, continued for Northern Chuuk State, including Fananu (Hall Islands) and Onoun (Namonuitos), for the first half of March. As reported by the Drought Statement from March 11th, water tanks on Fananu were very low, with the main catchment tank serving the community still extremely low. Well water was also brackish and crops/vegetation were dying. A ship also delivered food and water to the northern Islands of Chuuk State early March. However, a wetter pattern returned to the islands and by March 25, Fananu recorded a monthly total of 4.80 inches and conditions improved into Moderate Drought (D1). Water tank levels on Fananu continued to improve, while crops/vegetation still showed signs of stress. The outlook also continued to show a wet pattern for Northern Chuuk State.

Drought, Marshall Islands

When: March 1, 12:00 AM GST to March 31, 11:59 PM GST
Where: Marshall Islands forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

The Extreme Drought (D3) that developed across the Northern Marshall Islands near and north of 9N at the end of January continued through March. The islands includes, but is not limited to, Wotje, Ailuk, Mejit, Wotho, Utirik, Maloelap, Ebadon, Namu, Jabot, Aur. From March 1-24, Wotje recorded 1.80 inches of rain, the first month with over an inch of rain since December of 2021, and out preforming February's total of 0.05 inches. Across northern Marshall Islands, most catchments are very low. Some wells are salty. Groundwater is being utilized for cooking, drinking, washing and bathing but recent rains may have filled some catchments adequately. Vegetation is still brown with some plants absent of leaves. Some fruits are dropping prematurely. Some islands have reverse osmosis units, but many are still inoperable. The Marshall Islands National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) supplied new batteries for Wotje's reverse osmosis unit last month. The NDMO's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster continues to survey the northern islands and focus attention to islands most in need.

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Guam in 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Guam, March 2022

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: 1023597, 1023598.