Posted on 08/06/2005 8:41:23 AM PDT by nuconvert
Huge ocean wave towered nearly 100 feet
Study finds giant waves are more common than first thought
The Associated Press
Aug. 4, 2005
WASHINGTON - Last year's Hurricane Ivan generated an ocean wave that towered higher than 90 feet at one point, says a study that also suggests such giants may be more common than once thought.
Research indicates these are not "rogue waves but actually fairly common during hurricanes," said David Wang of the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, Miss.
The giant wave was detected 75 miles south of Gulfport, Miss., by instruments on the ocean floor that measure the pressure of water above them. Using those readings, scientists can calculate the height of waves from trough to crest.
Last Sept. 15, as Hurricane Ivan passed through the area, the instruments measured 146 large waves, including 24 higher than 50 feet and one at 91 feet, Wang and his colleagues report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
The giant wave did not reach land. Unlike a tsunami, which reaches down to the sea floor, this was a wind wave, generated on the ocean surface by the powerful forces of the storm.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
well gee let's see here...
you take water and push it at a constant 150 + MPH, yeah those waves MIGHT get a little big after a while....
And I thought the killer wave in the "Perfect Storm" was bogus.
I don't know if it was bogus, but I have difficulty imagining that that Perfect Storm wave would break the way it did in mid-ocean.
Not another thread about when Kennedy fell into Chappaquiddik!
"Duuuude...Gnarly!"
The Worst HurricaneHurricane Mitch, which killed about 11,000 people in 1998, is considered to be the most destructive hurricane of modern times. Mitch struck Central America in October and November, destroying about 100,000 homes and leaving about 2.5 million people dependent on relief aid. Wind speeds reached 180mph for a 24-hour period, making it the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean in more than a decade.
Hurricanes normally last for between nine and 10 days and move westwards at a speed of about 12mph, gradually curving away from the equator as they move.
They are one of the most dramatic and destructive forces in nature. According to Bill McGuire, author of Surviving Armageddon and a natural hazards expert at University College London, the past 12 months have been the worst on record for hurricanes.
Five have struck Florida alone and the forecast for this year is that there will be about four times as many hurricanes as the annual average.
We get 50 foot waves out here in Hawaii all of the time -- granted, they are usually well off shore, but they certainly aren't rare by any means. Extreme surfers have helicopters take them, their surfboards, and a jetski far out to sea where the giants are. The jetski for towing the surfer up to speed -- there's no way a surfer can paddle the board up to speed on his (or her!) own.
Don't expect "journalists" to be educated. Especially the ones that AP hires...
My absolute worst nightmare.
Other than waking up next to Hillary or Helen Thomas.
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