by Nick Delgado

Guam - For now, it looks as though Mother Nature will spare Guam from devastating weather conditions. But it doesn't mean we're in the clear.

The National Weather Service is still monitoring weather conditions southeast of Guam, as right now there's really nothing out there in terms of circulation. But there is a strong and active monsoon weather pattern making its approach to the Mariana Islands. "Probably the strongest we've seen since 2004," said Chip Guard, chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

At this point the monsoon is not forecast to pass directly over Guam, but likely to the north of the territory. "Maybe toward the CNMI more than toward Guam," Guard added.

He says that's good news, but does warn we're not exactly in the clear. "What's going to happen is the winds that are associated with the monsoon, some of the winds are going to start to affect us probably tomorrow and in to Saturday. and some tropical system could develop probably to the west of us its not going to be very strong initially but we can expect winds in the 20-30 mile per hour range with gusts up to 40 miles per hour primarily associated with the monsoon that would be strong southerly and westerly winds and associated with that occasional very heavy showers so we could see 5 to 7 inches of rain for the next couple days and that would cause some flooding in low lying areas especially the coastal areas," he said.

There are no watches or warnings in effect for Guam, but agencies like the department of education are preparing just in case.

Department of Education safety officer Bruce Williams said, "They've been told to secure by the weekend by the end of Friday, so they don't need to come back if something does develop through the night or through the weekend. So we're just taking precaution and we're going to prepare the campuses for flying debris, securing everything putting up the typhoon shutters, etc."

According to Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Alyssa Benito, island residents should also take precautions. "We don't foresee anything any coming our way, but we will again see a lot of rain and wind. So we are asking the public to stock up on their emergency disaster kit and prepare your family emergency plan."

The island remains in Condition of Readiness 4, and according to Guard we can expect just lots of wind and rain starting tomorrow and lingering possibly into Sunday. "I think people have to take the normal precautions they would take for stormy weather, but .as far as damaging or destroying winds, we don't expect those to occur."

A high surf advisory is in effect until Saturday.