Hurricane caused 'tallest wave' ~~ Ivan may have had waves more than 90 foot high

BBC ^ | Friday, 5 August 2005, 02:20 GMT 03:20 UK | staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Hurricane caused 'tallest wave'

Satellite image of Hurricane Ivan south of western Cuba

Hurricane Ivan generated a wave more than 90 foot (27 metres) high - thought to be the tallest and most intense ever measured - scientists have revealed.

It would have dwarfed a 10-storey building and had the power to snap a ship in half - but never reached land.

The wave was recorded by sensors on the ocean floor as Hurricane Ivan passed over the Gulf of Mexico last September.

The observations suggest prior estimates for extreme waves are too low, researchers warn in Science.

Hurricane Ivan caused more than 100 deaths and left a trail of devastation as it swept over several Caribbean islands and part of the United States.

How big was the wave?

As it moved over the Gulf of Mexico, it triggered sensors deployed by the Naval Research Laboratory to measure water pressure.

Scientists at the Massachusetts-based laboratory in the US used the data to calculate the extreme waves created under the eye of the storm.

The distance between the crest of the biggest wave and its trough was 91 ft (27.7 metres) but they suspect the instruments missed some waves that were as tall as 132 ft (40 metres).

Hurricane Ivan left dozens dead in Grenada and its capital St George's

The waves were bigger than expected, suggesting theoretical models of waves whipped up by hurricanes may have to be revised.

"Our results suggest that waves in excess of 90 ft are not rogue waves but actually are fairly common during hurricanes," lead author Dr David Wang, told the BBC News website.

He said that since hurricane activity is predicted to increase over the next few decades, more research like this needs to be carried out.

The 91 ft wave was the largest individual wave measured with instruments in US waters, he added.

It echoes the wave depicted in the film, The Perfect Storm, which was 100 ft tall. The story is based on the 1991 storm off Gloucester, Massachusetts, which was one of the strongest in recorded history.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Need a hurricane ping list.

[konaice]

One wonders why such a wave would not have reached shore. What's to stop it?

[LibertarianInExile]

Mebbe the shape of the sea floor forced it to crash earlier. That's what happened around Diego Garcia, supposedly, with the tsunami that decimated other spots.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

The Sphinx is 65 feet tall? Somehow I thought it was bigger than that.......

[Oldexpat]

From a statistical point of view they are out there.
Hit one of these breaking and it could spoil your whole day.
Once was on a DD that piled into a wave with height of at least 50'. Smashed the bridge glass, tumbled the gyro's, shut down the boilers, and moved MT 51 back about 18".
The only thing that saved us from sailing under was just luck.

[Cold Heart]

Such large waves are unstable. The waves reach shore but are modified. Gravity is our friend.

[kstewskis]

Hit one of these breaking and it could spoil your whole day.

Unless you had one of these...

[spinestein]

[The waves were bigger than expected, suggesting theoretical models of waves whipped up by hurricanes may have to be revised.]



So the theoretical models about weather and our environment result in a prediction that is found to be inaccurate when real word data is analyzed.

Does this mean that it would be wise to distrust the predictions of theoretical models regarding complex systems such as weather and the environment until such time as genuine data becomes available to analyze?

Just asking.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Right!

[ApplegateRanch]

They forgot to put Florida in the graphic.

[ApplegateRanch]

THIS is the graphic I meant.

[burzum]

Weather reports have become more accurate over time. From what I've heard, a 10 day forecast today is now as accurate as a 5 day forecast 15 years ago. While weather reports are never 100% accurate, their accuracy has increased dramatically over the last 50 years.

I think its important for those in the aviation and seagoing professions to take weather reports very seriously and be conservative on their interpretation. I know that I am very interested in the weather every time I decide to drive into Montana during the winter.

In general, most weather in a non-event. But there are some significant events, such as hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico or Arctic blasts in Montana for which it is very helpful to be ready. I'm not yet willing to say that weather predictions are useless because we don't yet have all the data. We never will. But they are improving, and continue to improve.

[SunkenCiv]

Another idea like that, and we're all givin' ya a swirly.

;')

Sounds like another research program to funnel some tax dollars into.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Actually I pinged some who I thought might have a ping list for the Hurricanes.

It's been known to happen....where is Blam...?

[taxed2death]

....now where did I leave my sexwax?

;)


(surfboard wax for you peeps who are wondering).

[blam]

"It's been known to happen....where is Blam...?"

Here! We already covered this back in June, that's why you're not getting a big response, sorry.

Hurricane Ivan, Largest Wave Ever Measured

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well, damn,...I missed that thread and the BBC implied this was recent news,....I'll never trust them again...they must have needed filler material.

Sorry to have bothered you, but when I see anything on Hurricanes , you are the first person that comes to mind!

Hope things are going well for you and that the rest of the year is nice and quiet!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That would be scary for sure!

[blam]

"Hope things are going well for you and that the rest of the year is nice and quiet!!"

So far, so good. When the guy is done with the bull dozer and backhoe today, I'll be done with the clean-up from TS Cindy.

It's a beautiful, clear, fall like day around here today. I don't know what happened, lol.