UN weather agency recorded 62ft wave in February 2013 in the North Atlantic, in a remote spot between Great Britain and Iceland after a strong cold front

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A towering 19-meter (62.3ft) wave in the North Atlantic has set a world record as the highest ever measured by a buoy, according to the UN’s weather agency.

An automated buoy measured the wave at a remote spot between Great Britain and Iceland on 4 February 2013 at 6.00 GMT, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.



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Taller than a six-storey building, the huge wave occurred after a “very strong cold front” passed through the area, with winds of up to 43.8 knots (50.4mph).



“This is the first time we have ever measured a wave of 19 meters. It is a remarkable record,” the WMO assistant secretary general, Wenjian Zhang, said in the statement.



Classified as “the highest significant wave height as measured by a buoy” by the WMO Commission for Climatology’s Extremes Evaluation Committee, the wave crushed the previous record of 18.275 meters (59.96ft), measured in December 2007 in the North Atlantic.



Wave height is defined as the distance from the crest of one wave to the trough of the next; significant wave height means the average of the highest one-third of waves measured by an instrument.



The North Atlantic, between the Grand Banks underwater plateau off Canada, the south of Iceland and the west of Great Britain, is often the setting for gigantic waves, thanks to wind patterns which lead to “intense extra-tropical storms” sometimes called “bombs”, the WMO said.

The new wave height has been added to the WMO’s Global Weather & Climate Extremes Archive, which tracks such milestones. The highest significant wave height measured by a ship observation occurred in the North Atlantic in February of 2000, and measured 29.05 meters (95.03 ft), according to the archive.

In the release, Dr Zhang emphasized that, though there have been strides in satellite technology, “the sustained observations and data records from moored and drifting buoys and ships still play a major role” in helping to understand the interaction between weather and ocean.



Automated buoys relay data on swells, sea current and temperatures for scientists, seafarers and climate researchers.

• This article was amended on 13 December 2016 to correct the height of a double-decker bus. It is 4.4m, not 15m. </s> The World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations' weather agency, announced Tuesday it had measured a massive wave that crushed the record for the tallest in history. The wave was 62.3 feet, or 19 meters, tall. For context, that equates to about six stories.

The massive wave was measured by a buoy in the North Atlantic in 2013. The height is defined as the distance from the crest — or top — of one wave to the trough — or bottom — of the other. A commission of experts for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) officially classified the record-breaker as "the highest significant wave height as measured by a buoy." A significant wave is defined as "the average of the highest one-third of waves measured by an instrument," which means the record-breaker was actually a series of waves.

The wave, which took place south of Iceland and North of the United Kingdom, flew past the previous record set in 2007 of 59.96 feet, also measured in the North Atlantic, a hotbed for massive waves.

"This is the first time we have ever measured a wave of 19 meters. It is a remarkable record," said WMO Assistant Secretary-General Wenjian Zhang in a statement. "It highlights the importance of meteorological and ocean observations and forecasts to ensure the safety of the global maritime industry and to protect the lives of crew and passengers on busy shipping lanes."

It's, of course, unlikely anyone is surfing this sort of wave anytime soon. But for comparison's sake, it makes a number of the world's tallest waves look tiny. The Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii, which Smithsonian Magazine called "the most dangerous surf wave" in the world rises up to about 30 feet.

Other one-off waves, however, have actually reportedly been taller than the 60-foot series measured by the buoy in the North Atlantic. An earthquake caused in 1958 in Alaska’s Lituya Bay caused a tsunami that led to wave that reached 100 feet in height, according to the Smithsonian. Tsunamis are different from wind-blown waves, however, since they are much longer and more destructive. </s> Scientists have recorded what is believed to be the largest ocean wave ever in the southern hemisphere, a 23.8 metre (78 foot) monster that equals the height of an eight-floor building.

A buoy recorded the wave on Tuesday during a ferocious storm in the notoriously wild Southern Ocean near Campbell Island, some 700 kilometres (430 miles) south of New Zealand, research body MetOcean Solutions said.

Senior oceanographer Tom Durrant said it wiped out the previous southern-hemisphere record of 22.03 metres recorded in 2012. Bowled over by the findings, he even suggested that the west coast of America would be feeling the effects soon:

“To our knowledge, it is the largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere. The Southern Ocean is an “engine room” for generating swell waves that move across the planet. Indeed, surfers in California can expect energy from this storm to arrive at their shores in about a week’s time.”

Biggest ocean wave ever recorded near New Zealand

Durrant added that even bigger waves topping 25 metres were probably whipped up by the storm, which tracked east through the area on Tuesday, but the buoy was not in the best place to record them.

He said the buoy, installed in March to measure the extreme conditions in the Southern Ocean, also only recorded for a 20-minute burst every three hours to conserve its batteries.

“It’s very probable that larger waves occurred while the buoy was not recording,” he said.

The largest wave ever noted was an earthquake-generated tsunami at Alaska’s Lituya Bay in 1958 that measured 30.5 metres, according to Smithsonian magazine.

It’s more evidence of “seas behaving badly”. A previous AFP report described how ocean heatwaves can have “devastating and long-term impacts” on ecosystems. They have become longer and more frequent over the past century, according to an international study published Tuesday.

From 1925 to 2016, the number of annual marine heatwave days globally jumped by 54 percent, with a noticeable acceleration over the last three decades, a paper in the journal Nature Communications said. </s> Two days ago, New Zealand scientists measured a mammoth 78-foot tall wave. This is the largest wave ever measured in the southern hemisphere – beating the old record of 64 feet set just last year. Both were measured by a buoy in the Southern Ocean, about 430 miles south of the southern tip of New Zealand. </s> Scientists have recorded what is believed to be the largest wave ever in the southern hemisphere, a 23.8 metre (78 foot) monster the height of an eight-floor building.

A buoy recorded the wave on Tuesday during a ferocious storm in the notoriously wild Southern Ocean near Campbell Island, some 700 kilometres (430 miles) south of New Zealand, research body MetOcean Solutions said.

Senior oceanographer Tom Durrant said it wiped out the previous southern-hemisphere record of 22.03 metres recorded in 2012.

"To our knowledge it is largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere," he said, adding that the Southern Ocean was an "engine room" for generating swell waves that move across the planet.

"Indeed, surfers in California can expect energy from this storm to arrive at their shores in about a week's time," he said.

Durrant added that even bigger waves topping 25 metres were probably whipped up by the storm, which tracked east through the area on Tuesday, but the buoy was not in the best place to record them.

He said the buoy, installed in March to measure the extreme conditions in the Southern Ocean, also only recorded for a 20-minute burst every three hours to conserve its batteries.

"It's very probable that larger waves occurred while the buoy was not recording," he said.

The largest wave ever noted was an earthquake-generated tsunami at Alaska's Lituya Bay in 1958 that measured 30.5 metres, according to Smithsonian magazine. </s> Scientists have recorded what is believed to be the largest wave ever in the Southern Hemisphere, a 23.8 metre monster the height of an eight-storey building.

A buoy recorded the wave on Tuesday during a ferocious storm in the notoriously wild Southern Ocean near Campbell Island, some 700km south of New Zealand, research body MetOcean Solutions said.

Senior oceanographer Tom Durrant said it wiped out the previous southern-hemisphere record of 22.03 metres recorded in 2012.

“To our knowledge it is largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere,” he said, adding that the Southern Ocean was an “engine room” for generating swell waves that move across the planet.

“Indeed, surfers in California can expect energy from this storm to arrive at their shores in about a week’s time,” he said.

Durrant added that even bigger waves topping 25 metres were probably whipped up by the storm, which tracked east through the area on Tuesday, but the buoy was not in the best place to record them.

He said the buoy, installed in March to measure the extreme conditions in the Southern Ocean, also only recorded for a 20-minute burst every three hours to conserve its batteries.

“It’s very probable that larger waves occurred while the buoy was not recording,” he said.

The largest wave ever noted was an earthquake-generated tsunami at Alaska’s Lituya Bay in 1958 that measured 30.5 metres, according to magazine.

Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa was recently acknowledged as having ridden the biggest wave ever surfed, a 24.38 metre giant at Nazare in Portugal last November. But unlike the wave heights recorded by ocean buoys, the height of this wave was decided by a matter of estimation, based on comparing it to Koxa’s crouching height in photos. </s> A solitary buoy in the remote Southern Ocean has recorded a monster wave of 23.8 metres, the largest wave ever measured in the southern hemisphere.

A wave rider buoy moored at Campbell Island off New Zealand's South Island registered the huge wave on Tuesday, according to Tom Durrant, a senior oceanographer at Metocean, part of Meteorological Metservice of New Zealand (MetService).

Since the buoy only registered the first 20 minutes of each three hours, "it's quite possible, even probable, that there were much higher waves during this storm", Dr Durrant said.

It eclipsed the previous record maximum individual 22.03 metres clocked at an Australian buoy south of Tasmania in 2012.

The so-called significant wave height for the event, which is an average of the top third of waves measured from their crest to trough, was registered at 14.9 metres. </s> At 78 feet tall, and churned by a fierce storm, it’s the largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand scientists report.

“This is a very exciting event and to our knowledge it is largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere,” said Tom Durrant, a senior oceanographer with MetOcean Solutions, in a statement. “So, this is a very important storm to capture, and it will add greatly to our understanding of the wave physics under extreme conditions in the Southern Ocean.”

The wave was recorded on the night of May 9 by a MetOcean buoy, which is currently floating in the Southern Ocean near Campbell Island about 430 miles (692 km) south of New Zealand. The wave reached a height of 78 feet (23.8 meters) as a storm rolled through the region. The previous record, also recorded by MetOcean Solutions, was a 63.6-foot (19.4 meter) wave that rolled through the same patch of ocean last year.

The wave was detected by a single solar powered buoy, which samples wave conditions for 20 minutes every three hours. The intermittent sampling is done to conserve energy. During the recording period, the height, period, and direction of each wave is measured, and the data is transmitted to a receiving satellite. Oceanographers with MetOcean Solutions, a subsidiary of the state-owned Meteorological Service of New Zealand (MetService), believe the peak heights of waves were even higher during the storm. Their wave forecast predicted individual waves reaching heights of 82 feet (25 meters).



The Southern Ocean is one of the least-studied areas on Earth. Its persistent and energetic winds make it an “engine room” for wave development, producing waves that traverse the globe, including the iconic surfing waves that reach the California coast.

The May 9 storm was generated by the easterly passage of a deep low-pressure system, and accompanied by winds reaching 65 knots (75 mph/120 km/h). These low-pressure storms are typical in the Southern Ocean, and they can strike at any time of the year, unlike in the northern hemisphere where similar storms only happen in winter.

When measuring waves, oceanographers use a metric called “significant wave height.” It’s a standard value that characterizes sea conditions, and it takes the average of the highest third of a measured wave. The May 9 storm produced a significant wave height of 48.9 feet (14.9 meters), which is now a record for the Southern Ocean. But it’s not the biggest ever recorded; that distinction goes to a 2013 North Atlantic wave with a significant wave height of 62 feet (19 meters). </s> A wave measuring nearly 80 feet tall was recorded by a buoy in a remote area off New Zealand’s Campbell Island, in the Antarctic Ocean on Tuesday.

A storm’s deep low pressure system and 65-knot winds fueled the 78-foot wave, Dr. Tom Durrant, a senior oceanographer with the Meteorological Service of New Zealand, told the BBC.

"This is a very exciting event and to our knowledge it is largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere," he told the outlet.

The country installed a solar-powered buoy in March to measure wave height. The buoy can only operate for 20 minutes every three hours, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The minimal recording time could mean it was “very probable” even greater waves occurred during the storm, Durrant said. Storm conditions forecast heights possibly larger than 82 feet just north of the buoy location.

"Essentially the peak of the waves could stay under the storms for quite a long period of time, and that's what allowed them to grow so rapidly," Durrant told 9 News Australia.

The mammoth wave surpassed a 72-foot wave documented in 2012 south of Tasmania, located off Australia’s southern coast, the BBC reported.

Larger waves have been recorded in the northern hemisphere, according to the outlet.

California's surfers can expect the energy from this southern hemisphere storm to hit their shores in about a week, Durrant said.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirms a 19-meter wave (62.4 feet) recorded on 4 February 2013 in the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the United Kingdom is the largest ever on record.