High Surf — Guam, Guam

2022-12-25 to 2022-12-30 · Guam, Guam

Event narrative

On December 26th, three water rescues were preformed within about one hour from each other. The first rescue was of a drowning in Tumon Bay, at the beach behind Pacific Star Hotel, at 1114ChST. Victim was described as older man and CPR was conducted on the man as he was taken by ambulance to a hospital. No new information was mentioned local papers, so is currently reported as an injury. The second rescue was at 1219ChST, when firefighters were called to Alupang Cove, where a kayaker and paddleboarder were reportedly in distress. Both women, described as being around 60 years old. The kayaker was rescued and required no medical attention. The paddleboarder however, drowned as she was pulled over the reef by rough surf and lost her lifejacket. The paddleboarder would later die in the hospital that day. This was part of a high surf event that started roughly 0600ChST Sunday, December 25 and end around 1730ChST Friday, December 30, when surf fell below hazardous levels.

Wider weather episode

A shear line, extending from a cold front north of the Marianas with strong to near-gale force winds to the north of the shear line, generating a north to northwest swell. This led to high surf and a high risk of rip currents along west and north facing reefs across the Marianas during the week of Christmas. This lead to three water rescues, resulting in two drownings (one injury and one fatality).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1072999. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.