Tuesday 28 January 2014

New maximum individual wave height recorded off Ireland from a weather buoy last Sunday



The M4 weather buoy, located off the Northwest coast, recorded a new maximum individual wave height of 23.4 metres at 15.00 on Sunday 26thJanuary 2014 during the weekend storm. This figure easily surpasses the previous record of 20.4 metres at the same location in December 2011.

The M4 buoy is one of a new generation of weather buoys with the ability to measure maximum wave height as well as the more usual Significant Wave Height.

The Significant Wave Height is defined as the average height of the highest one-third of the waves and that is what our forecasts of wave height refer to. In general, the highest wave of all will be about twice the Significant Wave Height.

There was also a record for maximum significant wave height for the M4 buoy of 15.3m at the same time, with the previous record being 14.7m. The all-time record for Significant Wave Height still rests with the M6 buoy of 17.2m.

See the full story here.

Rockall was definitely not the place to be at the weekend!