High Wind — Saipan, Guam

2024-09-16 · Saipan, Guam

Event narrative

For Saipan, wind started to gust over 30 kts after 0300ChST, and reach higher gusts than what was reported a weak earlier when TS Bebinca moved near the Marianas. Near Saipan's airport (215 ft in elevation), max sustained wind of 29 kt (33 mph) was recorded around 0855ChST with a max gust of 48 kt (55 mph) around 0905ChST. Higher elevations saw stronger winds with a private weather station on Wireless Ridge (elevation of 673 ft) reporting max sustained wind of 46 kt (53 mph) at 1355ChST and a max gust of 53 kt (61 mph) at 1305ChST. No notable damage was reported by the emergency management office up on Saipan.

Wider weather episode

A strong winds associated with monsoon surge impacted the Marianas around September 16th as a monsoon depression (Invest 97W) developed and would later become Tropical Storm Pulasan in the Philippine Sea, west of the Marianas. Westerly swell from the overall monsoon pattern affected western Micronesia and the Marianas for several days.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1219675. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.