Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Tiyan, Guam
Issued by NWS Tiyan, Guam
678 FXPQ50 PGUM 090807 AFDGUM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tiyan GU 607 PM ChST Tue Dec 9 2025 .Marianas Synopsis... Gentle to moderate northeasterlies are bringing light showers to eastern waters of Guam and Rota. Buoys show seas are 6 to 8 feet. && .Discussion... A southward propagating shearline is expected to bring periods of light rain and windy conditions to Tinian and Saipan Thursday and Thursday night, with some chance of moving into the weekend if the shearline takes longer to dip south. Once the shearline situates itself over the islands, a compact zone of diffusion may form just 200 miles southward of the shearline axis, allowing Guam and Rota to observe drier, albeit breezier conditions until the weekend. && .Marine... Gentle to moderate easterlies will become moderate to fresh beginning Wednesday, to then become strong near Tinian and Saipan as a shearline finally moves in from the north. This may potentially bring conditions hazardous to small craft in Tinian and Saipan coastal waters for much of the second half of the week. Combined seas of 6 to 7 feet will slightly increase by a foot or two toward the weekend, meanwhile 6 to 7 foot seas near Tinian and Saipan may potentially see at least 10-foot seas during the shearline passage. && .Eastern Micronesia... The main forecast challenge was adjusting downward model POP (Probability of Precipitation) values based on satellite imagery. This was mainly done (forecasts adjusted downward) for the next 36 hours (tonight through Wednesday night) at all three locations. Thereafter, there was still some concern if model forecasted POPs are too high based on upstream satellite imagery (180 to 160W). We decided to keep the model forecasts for now during this latter time period and will re-evaluate during the next 2 forecast packages. Otherwise, look for mainly gentle to moderate winds to persist at Kosrae and Majuro. For Pohnpei, light to gentle winds will increase into the gentle to moderate range by the weekend. Seas will remain in the 6 to 8 foot range the next few days. && .Western Micronesia... A fairly quiet trade-wind pattern continues. The Near-Equatorial Trough (NET) looks to have shifted slightly further south of Palau and Yap, maintaining an area of scattered showers to the south and east of coastal waters. Yap saw scattered showers briefly today with drier conditions now just upstream, but showers look to increase again overnight as a shallow trough shifts west-southwest into the region, propagating along the northern periphery of the NET. Showers then look to increase near Palau tomorrow as this feature moves past Yap Proper and into the area, and the NET axis flexes slightly northward. This looks to maintain low-end scattered (30 percent chance) showers near Palau through Thursday night, but models still keep most of the showers south of coastal waters. Showers will then remain isolated to scattered across far western Micronesia through the rest of the forecast period, with the occasional increase owing to weak, transient features moving through the region along the northern edge of the NET. Further east, satellite imagery reveals very dry conditions over and upstream of Chuuk, with bands of scattered showers seen to the south of Weno coastal waters, oriented along the NET axis. Chuuk looks to remain mostly dry through the rest of the week, with models indicating a wetter pattern beginning to set up on Sunday through early next week, as a more robust trough moves west into the area from over Pohnpei and Kosrae. Buoy data indicates combined seas of 4 to 6 feet across much of the region, increasing to around 7 feet just north of Yap and Chuuk waters. The marine forecast remains fairly steady through the week as the northeast trade swell remains dominant with a gradually diminishing background north swell. Seas look to increase by a foot or so this coming weekend with a slight strengthening of the trade swell. Winds will be light to moderate for Palau and Chuuk throughout the forecast period, staying mostly moderate for Yap. && .GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GU...None. MP...None. Marianas Waters...None. && $$ Marianas: Montvila East Micronesia: Doll West Micronesia: DeCou