We often hear of rogue or monster waves in the Atlantic and Pacific, but the Gulf has monster waves as well. Scientists have been unable to predict them . . . until now.
(DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala.) May 4 -- We often hear of rogue or monster waves in the Atlantic and Pacific. But the Gulf has monster waves as well. Scientists have been unable to predict them... until now.
Monster waves develop during storms. In mid April, a 70-foot monster wave smashed into a cruise ship heading to New York from the Bahamas. But the Gulf of Mexico has seen some of the largest monster waves. especially during storms.
Dr. Vijay Panchang, a professor at Texas A and M - Galveston has developed a wave simulation model that can accurately predict the daily height of waves for 48 hours in advance. Panchang uses NOAA models and then applies his own mathematical formula, and he measures smaller areas at a time.
Panchang: "Whereas NOAA simulations are typically on the order of 25 kilometers by 25 kilometers apart or even more, ours are on the order of 500 meters or even smaller. You can make a fine prediction."
It was during hurricane Ivan a really big monster wave lurked off the coast of Alabama. One of the weather buoys measured a 50 foot wave, then it broke.
Panchang: "Standard wave protocol says if that's the average, the larger would have been double that, so there must have been a wave of about 100 feet."
Panchang started his research off the coast of Maine, but has recently focused on the northern Gulf of Mexico. and what his buoy and sensor network has picked up can provide invaluable information to vessels at sea, as well as those off shore gas rigs in the Gulf.
Panchang: "At 4 of the buoys we checked we had waves bigger than ever previously recorded at those locations."
Dr. Panchang is now working on a form of artificial intelligence to crunch current and historical buoy data to make monster wave predictions.