Comment on Gigantic Wave in Pacific Ocean Was Most Extreme 'Rogue Wave' on Record
MrFappy@lemmy.world 6 months ago
So it was the biggest ever recorded, and a once in a millennium occurrence… but was 53 feet while the one in ‘95 was 85 feet… what am I missing here? How was the ‘95 one not the record holder? I get that it was almost thirty years ago and technically during the previous millennium, but that doesn’t matter.
reattach@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The article is careful to say “most extreme” wave, not biggest. They’re defining that as the wave’s height in comparison to the other waves around it.
“Scientists define a rogue wave as any wave more than twice the height of the waves surrounding it. The Draupner wave, for instance, was 25.6 meters tall, while its neighbors were only 12 meters tall.
In comparison, the Ucluelet wave was nearly three times the size of its peers.
“Proportionally, the Ucluelet wave is likely the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded,” physicist Johannes Gemmrich from the University of Victoria in 2022.”