Most extreme rogue wave ever was recorded off B.C. coast

 

Sources —Global News

A Victoria-based marine data company says it's recorded what it calls the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded, off the coast of Ucluelet. Kylie Stanton has the details, and whether the wave posed a danger to the coastline.

It is being called an event that happens “once in a millennium.”

Researchers have announced that the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded has been measured off the coast of Vancouver Island, near Ucluelet, B.C.

The wave, measuring 17.6 metres – which is as high as a four-storey building – was recorded in November 2020 by Victoria, B.C.-based MarineLabs Data Systems.

It is the subject of a scientific report by Dr. Johannes Gemmrich and Leah Cicon, from the University of Victoria, and published last week in the Journal Scientific Reports.

B.C. scientist hopes to predict rogue waves – Jan 5, 2021

Rogue waves are waves with more than double the height of the waves currently happening around them. According to MarineLabs, they can also be known as “freak” or “killer waves” as they can occur unexpectedly, and, because they are so huge, can be very dangerous.

The first rogue wave was recorded in 1995 off the coast of Norway. MarineLabs said that wave measured 25.6 metres in a sea state with wave heights of about 12 metres – roughly two times the size of the waves around it.