Impacts of Super Typhoon Paka’s (1997) Winds on Guam: Meteorological and Engineering Perspectives

Abstract

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) convened a group of experts on Guam soon after Super Typhoon Paka left the island in December 1997. The primary mission of this team, which consisted of two meteorologists (a hurricane researcher and a severe-weather expert) and a civil engineer, was to gather data related to the destruction caused primarily by Paka’s winds. This group collected all available recorded wind observations and conducted surveys of damage from the ground and air. There was particular interest in collecting data in the vicinity of Andersen Air Force Base on the extreme northern end of Guam, where a wind gust to 105 m⋅s