SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA LOCAL STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 4 AM GUAM LST MON DEC 9 2002 ...SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA POUNDING GUAM AND ROTA... THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM HAS FAILED. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU IS CURRENTLY UNABLE TO FAX INFORMATION TO THE LOCAL MEDIA. NOAA WEATHER RADIO HAS FAILED ON GUAM AND SAIPAN AND THE LOCAL 811 TELEPHONE HOTLINE IS NOT IN OPERATION. RESIDENTS OF GUAM WHO STILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET SHOULD STAY TUNED TO OUR PRODUCTS AT HTTP://WWW.PRH.NOAA.GOV/PR/GUAM/ (ALL LOWER CASE). TO CONTACT US PLEASE SEND E-MAILS TO THE /W-GUM.WEBMASTER AT NOAA.GOV/. ...WATCHES AND WARNINGS... A TYPHOON WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GUAM...ROTA...TINIAN... SAIPAN...ANATAHAN...ALAMAGAN AND AGRIHAN. ...STORM INFORMATION... AT 3 AM GUAM LST...1700Z...THE CENTER OF SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA WAS LOCATED BY SATELLITE NEAR LATITUDE 15.0 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 144.3 DEGREES EAST. THIS IS 110 MILES NORTH OF GUAM...85 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROTA...90 MILES WEST OF TINIAN...100 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF SAIPAN...125 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ANATAHAN...200 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALAMAGAN...AND 270 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF AGRIHAN. SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA IS MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN AT 150 MPH. ...AREAS AFFECTED... THIS STATEMENT RECOMMENDS ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY RESIDENTS OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS. ...GUAM... ...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA IS SLOWLY MOVING AWAY FROM GUAM. HOWEVER...GUAM REMAINS IN TYPHOON CONDITION 1. RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN IN A SAFE SHELTER UNTIL DAMAGING WINDS SUBSIDE. ...STORM SURGE AND SURF INFORMATION... SURF HEIGHTS OF 18 TO 25 FT AND STORM SURGE OF 7 TO 9 FT WILL CONTINUE THE REST OF TONIGHT. SURF WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE TODAY. SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ALONG ALL SHORELINES. ...WIND INFORMATION... EXPECT SOUTHWEST WINDS TO CONTINUE TO ABATE SLOWLY. WINDS OF 35 TO 50 MPH...WITH SQUALLS TO 65 MPH...WILL DECREASE TO BELOW DAMAGING LEVELS LATE THIS MORNING. ...OTHER STORM EFFECTS... AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN TODAY WILL LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLOODING AND THE POTENTIAL FOR MUDSLIDES. ...ROTA... ...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA IS SLOWLY MOVING AWAY FROM ROTA. HOWEVER... ROTA REMAINS IN TYPHOON CONDITION 1. RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN IN SAFE SHELTER UNTIL DAMAGING WINDS SUBSIDE. ...STORM SURGE AND SURF INFORMATION... EXPECT SURF HEIGHTS OF 18 TO 25 FT AND STORM SURGE OF 7 TO 9 FT THE REST OF TONIGHT. SURF WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE TODAY. SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING IS LIKELY NEAR THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE. ...WIND INFORMATION... EXPECT SOUTH WINDS TO CONTINUE TO ABATE SLOWLY. SOUTH WINDS OF 40 TO 55 MPH...WITH SQUALLS TO 70 MPH...WILL DECREASE TO BELOW DAMAGING LEVELS THIS AFTERNOON. ...OTHER STORM EFFECTS... AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY... CAUSING LOCALIZED FLOODING AND THE POTENTIAL FOR MUDSLIDES. ...TINIAN AND SAIPAN... ...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TINIAN AND SAIPAN REMAIN IN TYPHOON CONDITION 1. STAY TUNED TO LATEST INFORMATION FROM THE CNMI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE. RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN IN SAFE SHELTER. SMALL CRAFT STAY IN PORT. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE ALREADY COMPLETE. ...STORM SURGE AND SURF INFORMATION... EXPECT HAZARDOUS SURF HEIGHTS OF 15 TO 22 FT AND STORM SURGE OF 5 TO 7 FT AS SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA MAKES ITS CLOSEST APPROACH AT THIS TIME. ...WIND INFORMATION... EXPECT SOUTHEAST WINDS TO BECOME SOUTH AT 40 TO 55 MPH WITH SQUALLS TO 75 MPH THROUGH MID MORNING. WINDS WILL SWITCH TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST AS PONGSONA DEPARTS LATER THIS MORNING. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL SLOWLY ABATE AFTER LATE MORNING...DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE MID AFTERNOON. ...OTHER STORM EFFECTS... AN ADDITIONAL 3 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN TODAY WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING AND THE POTENTIAL FOR MUDSLIDES. ...NORTHERN ISLANDS... ...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. SECURE YOUR PROPERTY AGAINST VERY DAMAGING TYPHOON FORCE WINDS. SMALL CRAFT STAY IN PORT. ...STORM SURGE AND SURF INFORMATION... HAZARDOUS SURF WILL INCREASE TO HEIGHTS OF 15 TO 20 FT AS SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA APPROACHES. ...WIND INFORMATION... DAMAGING SOUTH WINDS OF 40 MPH OR MORE ARE AFFECTING ANATAHAN...AND SHOULD SPREAD TO ALAMAGAN BY DAYBREAK AND AGRIHAN BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. TYPHOON FORCE WINDS OF 75 MPH OR MORE ARE EXPECTED ON AGRIHAN EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. WINDS OVER ANATAHAN AND ALAMAGAN WILL INCREASE TO 40 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH THIS AFTERNOON. ...OTHER STORM EFFECTS... TORRENTIAL RAINS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES IN SQUALLS TODAY MAY LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLOODING AND THE POTENTIAL FOR MUDSLIDES. ...NEXT UPDATE... THE NEXT LOCAL STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AT 6 AM GUAM LST...OR SOONER IF NEEDED. $$ R BALLARD BULLETIN SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA ADVISORY NUMBER 24 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 2 AM GUAM LST MON DEC 9 2002 SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA NOW MAINLY POUNDING ROTA A TYPHOON WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GUAM...ROTA...TINIAN... SAIPAN AND AGRIHAN. A TYPHOON WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR ANATAHAN AND ALAMAGAN. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS TYPHOON. RESIDENTS OF ALL ISLANDS NORTH OF ROTA NEED TO SEEK SAFE AND STURDY SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENTS OF GUAM AND ROTA REMAIN IN SHELTERS UNTIL THE TYPHOON CONDITION RETURNS TO 4. AT 2 AM GUAM LST...1600Z...SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 14.8 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 144.5 DEGREES EAST...OR 100 MILES NORTH OF GUAM...70 NORTHWEST OF ROTA...65 MILES WEST OF TINIAN...75 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF SAIPAN...110 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ANATAHAN. SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA IS MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH...WITH A GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTH EXPECTED. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR THE CENTER ARE 150 MPH. LITTLE CHANGE IN INTENSITY IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 12 HOURS. REPEATING THE 2 AM POSITION...14.8 DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE AND 144.5 DEGREES EAST LONGITUDE...MOVING NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 150 MPH. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...REFER TO SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA LOCAL STATEMENT...WTPQ81 PGUM. AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT 5 AM...FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT SCHEDULED ADVISORY AT 8 AM. R BALLARD BULLETIN SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 24A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 5 AM GUAM LST MON DEC 9 2002 VERY DANGEROUS SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA CONTINUING NORTHWESTWARD A TYPHOON WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GUAM...ROTA...TINIAN... SAIPAN...AGRIHAN...ANATAHAN...AND ALAMAGAN. THE TYPHOON WARNING FOR GUAM AND ROTA WILL LIKELY BE DISCONTINUED LATER THIS MORNING. PONGSONA REMAINS A VERY DANGEROUS SUPER TYPHOON. FOR RESIDENTS OF AGRIHAN...ANATAHAN...AND ALAMAGAN...PREPERATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. AT 5 AM GUAM LST...1900Z...SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 15.3 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 144.2 DEGREES EAST. THIS IS ABOUT 130 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF GUAM...100 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROTA...95 MILES WEST OF TINIAN...100 MILES WEST OF SAIPAN...120 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ANATAHAN...190 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALAMAGAN...AND 260 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF AGRIHAN. PONGSONA IS MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST AT 14 MPH. A GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTH IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR THE CENTER ARE 150 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SLIGHT WEAKENING IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 12 HOURS. TYPHOON FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70 MILES FROM THE CENTER... AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 200 MILES FROM THE CENTER. ON ITS PRESENT FORECAST COURSE...PONGSONA IS EXPECTED TO PASS ABOUT 130 MILES WEST OF ANATAHAN AROUND 9 AM LOCAL TIME...145 MILES WEST OF ALAMAGAN TONIGHT...AND ABOUT 100 MILES NORTHWEST OF AGRIHAN TUESDAY MORNING. REMEMBER THAT TRACK FORECASTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND ALL RESIDENTS IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR TYPHOON CONDITIONS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE TRACK OF PONGSONA. REPEATING THE 5 AM POSITION...15.3 NORTH...144.2 EAST. MOVEMENT TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AT 14 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...150 MPH. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...REFER TO SUPER TYPHOON PONGSONA LOCAL STATEMENTS...WTPQ81 PGUM. THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT 8 AM. R BALLARD