Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Tiyan, Guam
Issued by NWS Tiyan, Guam
035 FXPQ50 PGUM 300907 AFDGUM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tiyan GU 707 PM ChST Sun Nov 30 2025 .Marianas Synopsis... Visible satellite and radar imagery show mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers across the region this afternoon, with a few thunderstorms that developed around Guam and Rota coastal waters. Buoy and altimetry data show seas have increased to 6 to 8 feet with the arrival of northerly swell. && .Discussion... An unsettled weather pattern continues, mainly across Guam and Rota, linked to a weak tropical disturbance to the south, JTWC Invest 93W. As 93W passed to the southwest of Guam over the next 24 hours, model guidance continues to show a similar distribution of convection, with the bulk of showers and thunderstorms over Guam and Rota, and relatively lower shower coverage over Tinian and Saipan. The trailing convergence in the wake of 93W that was mentioned in previous discussions now looks to have shifted slightly southward, which would result in a return to partly cloudy skies and isolated showers by midweek. && .Marine/Surf... Moderate to fresh trades will prevail across the region through Tuesday night, as a tropical disturbance is expected to maintain scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms over the next couple days, mainly across Guam and Rota. Combined seas of 7 to 9 feet are expected through Wednesday as northerly swell moves through the region, generated by a distant low pressure system. Afterwards, conditions gradually subside to gentle to moderate winds and 5 to 7 foot seas late week. Trade swell and the pulse of long-period north-northeast swell are producing hazardous surf along north facing reefs and a high risk of rip currents along north and east facing reefs. This is expected through at least Monday afternoon for north facing reefs, with the high rip risk continuing through at least Wednesday afternoon for east facing reefs. && .Tropical Systems... A weak tropical disturbance, centered roughly near 11.3N 142.5E, has been opened as Invest 93W by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). Invest 93W is currently designated as a sub-low, which means that, although it is being monitored, development into a significant tropical cyclone is not expected within the next 24 hours. Invest 93W is highly disorganized and a low-level circulation center is not discernible from visible satellite imagery. CIMSS 850-700 mb satellite analysis does show a vorticity center around this area to the south of the Marianas, but it is broad and disorganized. Convection has been building within 93W through the afternoon just north to northwest of the approximate center, mainly just west of Guam coastal waters. Models show Invest 93W steadily developing over the next few days as it shifts west across the Philippine Sea. Notably, the ECMWF is running more aggressively than the GFS, developing a circulation by Monday night, about 24 hours sooner than the GFS. Even with the more aggressive model solutions and high degree of uncertainty, Invest 93W is not expected to bring any direct impacts to the region, exiting west of 130E around Thursday or Friday. However, 93W does look to support a wetter pattern across western Micronesia and the Marianas for much of the week. && .Eastern Micronesia... Much like the end of last week, the tabular wave data from the GFS has been about a foot to a foot and a half high (ironically...as it`s usually a foot to a foot and a half low). This looks to be a result of the higher waves getting shunted further east between 10N and 20N, delaying the arrival of a higher swell. As such, waves were lowered for the next 24 hours. However, seas and swell will increase later Monday, as the source region for these higher waves is to the northeast, it`s just taking a little longer for the higher swells to arrive. The other item of interest is convection within the ITCZ, mainly east of 170E (near Majuro eastward). Here, surface convergence is weaker. Upstream satellite imagery east of the Date Line is also unimpressive in terms of convective development and moisture depth until you get east of 170E. This matches well with the latest GFS GDI forecasts. Thus, Majuro has slightly lower rainfall coverage/probabilities in the forecast for the first half of the week compared to Pohnpei and Kosrae. Some minor inundation is possible at Majuro, as King Tides interact with the core of higher winds/waves centered north of Majuro. This looks to begin Tuesday afternoon and continue for at least a few days. && .Western Micronesia... Satellite early this evening shows scattered showers building over and just east of Palau, north of the Near-Equatorial Trough (NET) axis which extends east-southeast across much of the region, from 6N130E to around 1N153E. There is an area of broad, elongated cyclonic turning within the NET, centered roughly just southwest of Koror, and showers are increasing within the convergent flow just northeast of this weak vorticity center. East to northeast of Yap, showers are scattered to numerous, associated in part with JTWC`s Invest 93W, which is centered roughly near 11.3N 142.5E, and with a broader trough that extends northwest from over Ulithi and Fais near 10N140E, to around 15N138E. For Chuuk, scattered to numerous showers are seen just west of coastal waters within an area of low-level convergence and troughing, but the upstream environment looks fairly clear for this evening. Showers are expected to build near Chuuk overnight as convergence broadly increases along the backside of the broad trough and Invest 93W, south-southwest of the Marianas. Shower chances across the region will depend in part on the development and strength of Invest 93W as it moves westward, passing just north of Yap around Monday night, likely still as a robust open surface trough. The trailing convergence behind 93W will maintain scattered showers for Yap and Palau throughout much of the week, but models generally favor most of the showers and thunderstorms further north. Chuuk will see scattered showers throughout the week, building to numerous at times as a series of disturbances push west to northwest through the area, first around Monday night and again around Wednesday. Certainty of timing remains low and shower chances for Chuuk this week will likely see more significant changes in later forecast packages. Altimetry data indicates combined seas around 3 to 5 feet near Palau and 4 to 6 feet near Yap and Chuuk. The primary northeast trade swell is expected to remain fairly steady through the next few days, but a long-period north swell is still expected to move in around Monday, building surf along north-facing reefs. Surf is expected to remain below hazardous levels of 9 feet for Palau and Yap with most of the swell energy further east near Chuuk, but may come up near 9 feet for Chuuk around midweek. Additionally, minor inundation will be a concern, as the next King Tide cycle will occur with the full moon on December 4th, and high tides will be elevated a few days before and after the full moon. Based on current tide predictions, the risk for minor coastal inundation will peak Thursday, December 4th to around Monday, December 8th. && .GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GU...High Rip Current Risk through Wednesday afternoon for GUZ001. MP...High Rip Current Risk through Wednesday afternoon for MPZ001>003. Marianas Waters...None. && $$ Marianas: Cruz East Micronesia: Doll West Micronesia: DeCou