The highest wave in the world, more than 6-storey house in the Atlantic Ocean

The wave is as high as 19m and occurs after a very strong cold mass of air passes through the area.

A 19m high wave in the Atlantic Ocean is recognized as the world's tallest ocean wave ever measured by buoys, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Picture 1 of The highest wave in the world, more than 6-storey house in the Atlantic Ocean
A high wave in the Atlantic Ocean, off Cape Town.

An automatic float measured the wave in a remote area between England and Iceland on February 4, 2013 at 6:00 GMT, the WMO was announced yesterday.

Higher than the 6-storey building, the giant wave occurs after a very strong cold block of air passes through the area with winds of up to 81km / h.

"This is the first time we measured a 19m wave. It was an impressive record," said WMO secretary-general Wenjian Zhang, in the report.

The wave is categorized as the "highest wave ever measured by buoys" , breaking the 18,275-meter record high in December 2007 in the North Atlantic.

The North Atlantic is often home to huge waves, because the wind system often creates intense tropical storms, WMO said.

Picture 2 of The highest wave in the world, more than 6-storey house in the Atlantic Ocean
The North Atlantic is often home to giant waves.(Illustration).

The new wave has just been added to WMO's "Weather and climate extremes list" list. In addition to high wave "items" measured by buoys, there are also high wave items measured by ships. This record belongs to a wave of 29.05m measured by an observation ship in the North Atlantic in February 2000.

In the recently published report, Dr. Zhang emphasized that despite advances in satellite technology, tracking by floats and ships still plays an important role in understanding interim interactions. weather and ocean.

Automatic buoys are devices that relay wave, water and temperature data to scientists, seafarers and climate researchers.