Four-story high ‘rogue wave’ in North Pacific is most extreme ever recorded

A ROGUE wave recorded off the coast of British Columbia, Canada just broke records, according to a new report.

The massive wall of water dubbed the Ucluelet wave measured 58 feet (or 17.6 meters) high, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.

The rogue wave was recorded off the coast of Vancouver Island

The rogue wave, which was recorded specifically off the coast of Vancouver Island, occurred in November 2020.

According to the study, a rogue wave is defined as “an individual ocean surface wave with crest height, or trough-to-crest height, that is large compared to the significant wave height of the underlying sea state.”

In this case, the Ucluelet wave was a whopping three times the size of surrounding waves.

“Proportionally, the Ucluelet wave is likely the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded,” said Johannes Gemmrich, the study’s lead author from the University of Victoria, per CNN.

“Only a few rogue waves in high sea states have been observed directly, and nothing of this magnitude,” he added.

The scientist also noted that the likelihood of this phenomenon occurring is about one in every 1,300 years.

Researchers generally use buoys to help measure the heights of large waves.

For this study, the MarineLabs buoy – located approximately 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) off of the coast of Ucluelet, British Columbia – recorded data was in 20-minute bursts every 30 minutes.

Researchers then had to further analyze the data until May 21, 2021, to confirm its results.

“Most observations are at a single buoy, a single location, and so the wave passes through, and we know at this moment it was this high, but we don’t know how long. That is the big science question,” Gemmrich said.

Other important questions researchers are hoping to answer include figuring out how rogue waves are formed so we can better predict when they will occur.

Although advanced buoy technology might be a good starting point.

“We are aiming to improve safety and decision-making for marine operations and coastal communities through widespread measurement of the world’s coastlines,” MarineLabs CEO Scott Beatty said. 

“Capturing this once-in-a-millennium wave, right in our backyard, is a thrilling indicator of the power of coastal intelligence to transform marine safety,” he added.

The Ucluelet wave is thought to be the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded

In other news, Nasa is keeping an eye on three asteroids that are making a ‘close approach’ to Earth this Valentine’s Day.

Astronomers have observed a red giant star dying in real-time for the first time ever.

And, Nasa revealed the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.