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World's Tallest Wave

Posted by timothy on from the hard-to-fathom dept.

ctwxman writes "With all the talk of December's tsunami, it's easy to lose sight of the larger waves often found in mid-ocean. The three components for building a huge wave are wind speed, duration and fetch. All three were in play for a massive record breaker. As reported by The Times (UK), "It happened on September 16 last year when Hurricane Ivan stormed across the Gulf of Mexico and tore into the coast of Alabama, accompanied by 130mph winds and storm surges 8ft high. While still out at sea, oceanographers report, the hurricane also produced a series of giant waves, one of which stood 91ft (27m) from crest to trough, the height of a ten-story building and a new world record for a wave recorded by instruments." There might have been taller waves, but the sensors aren't deployed fulltime!"

5 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. More Info on Typial Wave Heights by BurntNickel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Check out some data from the TOPEX mission with maps of the earth showing typical signifigant wave height here.

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  2. Not the tallest wave.... by HotNeedleOfInquiry · · Score: 2, Informative

    From http://www.pacificocean.ca/

    Tallest wave: In 1933 sailors on a United States naval ship recorded a 112-foot-tall wave in the Pacific Ocean.

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    1. Re:Not the tallest wave.... by MankyD · · Score: 2, Informative

      That is also mentioned in the article. The article also states that this 96ft wave was calculated, via modeling, to have reached 131ft. However, the reason this wave takes the trophy is that it is the largest wave "recorded by instruments" to date. They even mention a mammoth 558ft "underwater" wave measured in 2001.

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  3. Not even close to the highest wave by Ann+Elk · · Score: 2, Informative

    The highest wave in recorded history happened in Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958. The wave was created by a huge landslide after an 8.0 earthquake. See this page for details and some amazing photographs.

    If you're interested in more details, read Philip L. Fradkin book Wildest Alaska: Journeys of Great Peril in Lituya Bay.

  4. Re:Impact by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    What about the one created when that meteor hit the Yucatan 65 million years ago?

    We didn't have the instruments to record that one, so it's not the tallest wave recorded by instrumentation.