Seen a Freak Wave Lately ?

[troppo]

Originally Posted by boatman61

You have to remember that when fully laden she is gonna have nowhere near the freeboard shown in the Library picture... also she's gonna be ploughing through other than up or over... a 10metre wave would sweep her decks easily...

Ahh, OK, thanks Boatman.

[hummingway]

According to this article in Scientific American one definition of a rogue wave would be 3x expected height for the sea conditions: The Real Sea Monsters: On the Hunt for Rogue Waves: Scientific American

Scientists seem to be getting closer to understanding and predicting them:
rogue waves modeled by nonlinear dyna... - Quantum Physics - tribe.net
Rogue Waves | Ocean | DISCOVER Magazine
Engineering Researchers Capture Optical 'Rogue Waves'

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by hummingway

According to this article in Scientific American one definition of a rogue wave would be 3x expected height for the sea conditions ...

As I previously indicated (post #15 & 35)
“Rogue or Freak Waves are defined (by Oceanographers) as waves that are more than double the significant wave height (SWH), which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record. “

➥ http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PubServi.../Rosenthal.pdf

➥ NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory - Rogue Waves and Explorations of Coast Waves

➥ Rogue wave (oceanography)

[Motley]

I was once on patrol near South Georgia and our 28000 ton royal fleet auxiliary was almost overturned by a wave that broke green over the bridge windows (82 feet above the waterline).

Steve.

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by boatman61

But... on a more serious note... in '05 I took my Hunter 37 across from NC to Europe... .

And they say Hunters can't take it! The nerve!

[troppo]

Originally Posted by Motley

I was once on patrol near South Georgia and our 28000 ton royal fleet auxiliary was almost overturned by a wave that broke green over the bridge windows (82 feet above the waterline).

Steve.

Steve, that's a big wave! While that may or may not fit the exact definition of a freak wave, I would certainly call it a freaking huge wave and if I didn't freak out when facing it then it would only be because fear had paralyzed me.

[Motley]

Troppo,

Thanks for making me laugh! It certainly was a big un and it completely and emphatically cured my costipation!

Steve.

[LostAtSea2011]

Would this be considered a Freak wave / Rogue wave ? I was at the beach in 1992 when this happened and luckily didnt have my car parked on the beach.
The Florida Rogue Wave

[Motley]

Nice one Jaasun...

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by jaasun71

Would this be considered a Freak wave / Rogue wave ? I was at the beach in 1992 when this happened and luckily didnt have my car parked on the beach.
The Florida Rogue Wave

That must have been something to see. Sounds more something in the tsunami family rather than a rogue as usually described.

As I understand it, wave height conforms to a statistically normal distribution from any energy source. That's why reported wave height is referred to as the average height of the highest one third of the waves. Implicit in that number is that the biggest waves will be significantly higher than that average height. Add to that, when waves from multiple sources overlap they can create an interference interaction that reduces the net wave height or a harmonic relationship that increases it. The result still varies with a normal distribution so the statistical outliers of the harmonic interaction of multiple wave trains are going to be a whole lot larger than the average reported height. Net effect is that very large waves that are statistically predictable. They are "freaks" or "rogues" the same way a seven foot individual with normal pituitary function (think Shaquille O'Neal) is a freak -- a statistical anomaly that is rare but not due to any special deviation from the usual forces that create waves.