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Hurricane Ivan, Largest Wave Ever Measured
Science News Magazine ^ | 6-11-2005 | Sid Perkins

Posted on 06/17/2005 8:41:18 AM PDT by blam

. . . and churn up big waves, too

Sid Perkins

From New Orleans, at the Joint Assembly of the American Geophysical Union

As Hurricane Ivan approached the U.S. Gulf Coast last September, it passed right over an array of seafloor sensors. The network detected the largest wave ever measured by instruments—one that towered more than 27 meters from trough to crest.

The 50-kilometer-wide group of 14 instruments was deployed in May 2004 to measure currents on the ocean floor, says William J. Teague, an oceanographer at the Naval Research Laboratory at Bay St. Louis, Miss. Late on the evening of Sept. 15, Ivan—moving northward at a pace of about 18 kilometers per hour and packing winds of around 200 km/hr—swept across the array over a period of several hours.

The seafloor instruments were set up to take pressure data during 8.5-minute intervals every 8 hours. As it happened, no sensors were making measurements when the eye of the hurricane was directly overhead. However, sensors did record the passing of massive waves before and after the hurricane moved through the array. During one of the data-gathering intervals, waves that often reached heights of 20 m were passing over one sensor every 10 seconds, says Teague. The largest wave in that train measured 27.7 m from peak to trough.

Computer models suggest that the storm's strongest winds—those in the wall of the hurricane's eye—could have spawned waves up to 40 m high.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: biggest; hurricane; hurricaneivan; ivan; recorded; roguewave; roguewaves; tsunami; tsunamis; wave
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To: Hank Rearden; blam
I wish they'd use real numbers when reporting this stuff.

They didn't use imaginary numbers in this report.

21 posted on 06/17/2005 8:54:41 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative (Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Andrew Heyward's got to go!)
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To: Hank Rearden

Lucky you. Mine reads in Leagues per Week.


22 posted on 06/17/2005 8:55:11 AM PDT by Tennessee_Bob ("Nac Mac Feegle! The Wee Free Men! Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! We willna be fooled again!")
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To: StormEye
Correction --- 27 meters is about 81 feet. That's a big wave.

You are getting closer, but still not there.

27.7 meters equals 90.9 feet

23 posted on 06/17/2005 8:55:57 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: StormEye

Just doing it in my head that would be just under 90 feet.


24 posted on 06/17/2005 8:55:59 AM PDT by yarddog
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To: StormEye
27 meters --- approximately 71 feet.

Actually, about 83 if I remember right.

25 posted on 06/17/2005 8:56:11 AM PDT by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
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To: thackney

27 X 39.375 in. / 12 =88.59 Ft.


26 posted on 06/17/2005 8:56:18 AM PDT by handy old one (It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims. Aristotle)
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To: StormEye

According to the online calculator - 27 meters is 88.58 feet.

And at that tall, what's +/- 7 feet?


27 posted on 06/17/2005 8:57:05 AM PDT by Tennessee_Bob ("Nac Mac Feegle! The Wee Free Men! Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! We willna be fooled again!")
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To: thackney

You're right. It's about 81 feet. A meter is
roughly equivalent to about 3 feet. I don't
have the conversion factor in front of me.


28 posted on 06/17/2005 8:57:14 AM PDT by StormEye
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To: woofie

"How many cubits in a bit?"

Depends entirely on which cubit you are talking about.


The common computation as to the length of the cubit makes it 20.24
inches for the ordinary cubit, and 21.888 inches for the sacred one.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cubit


29 posted on 06/17/2005 8:57:52 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Spec.4 Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: skinkinthegrass

Skeet Surfin'
Skeet Surfin'
If everybody had a 12-gauge
And a surfboard too
You'd see 'em shootin' and surfin'
From here to Malibu
Because it's totally bitchin'
Ridin' wave to blast the pigeons
And it's so neat shootin' skeets
While you're riding out the heavies all day

First wave, don't get tired
Second wave, aim higher
Third wave, pull and fire
Skeet Surfin', it's alright


30 posted on 06/17/2005 8:58:12 AM PDT by dfwgator (Flush Newsweek!)
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To: blam
a series of giant waves, one of which stood 91ft (27m) from crest to trough

omg...

31 posted on 06/17/2005 8:58:57 AM PDT by NautiNurse ("I'd rather see someone go to work for a Republican campaign than sit on their butt."--Howard Dean)
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To: Red Badger

In Pensacola?
The storm surge trapped air under the concrete sections
and actually caused them to float off the support columns.


32 posted on 06/17/2005 8:59:18 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: handy old one

Easier to remember a "meter stick" is about 40 inches. 40 X 27, then divide by 12...


33 posted on 06/17/2005 9:00:30 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Hank Rearden

Hmmmm. I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10. Sorry 27.7 is not correct.


34 posted on 06/17/2005 9:00:37 AM PDT by showme_the_Glory (No more rhyming, and I mean it! ..Anybody got a peanut.....)
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To: StormEye

Actually a yard is 3 feet.

A meter is about 9% bigger.


35 posted on 06/17/2005 9:01:03 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Approx. 90.879 ft or 1090.55 inches.


36 posted on 06/17/2005 9:01:14 AM PDT by The_Repugnant_Conservative
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To: Tennessee_Bob
According to the online calculator - 27 meters is 88.58 feet.

All the more reason we should never convert to the metric system. A wave of 88.58 feet would never have done as much damage as one that was 27 meters.

37 posted on 06/17/2005 9:02:40 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Spec.4 Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: dfwgator
LOL!..I like your style.. :D
38 posted on 06/17/2005 9:03:19 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
Roughly 88-1/2 feet. 9 story building. Whoa.

100cm = 1 m 2.54cm = 1 in. 12 in = 1 ft.

39 posted on 06/17/2005 9:04:30 AM PDT by wbill
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To: Tennessee_Bob
Lucky you. Mine reads in Leagues per Week.

I can't fathom that.

40 posted on 06/17/2005 9:05:16 AM PDT by pbear8 (Navigatrix, Tomas Torquemada Gentleman's Club - Ladies Auxiliary)
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