Rogue, or freak, waves are rare ocean waves which height rise markedly abovethe background waves occurring at the time. These waves are monsters withheights of 50, 75 and even 100 feet being estimated or even measured outright.Rogue wave encounters at sea and along coasts are legend, but the rarity ofsuch waves has made studying and understanding them difficult. Onset ofspace-based measurements in recent years, however, has proven their existence.
The exact cause of freak waves has not been determined. There are a fewpossible triggers for such waves. For example, there is the combining of manywaves into one, much greater, wave. Normal wind waves driven against an oceancurrent can "pile up" into much bigger waves, and trains of ordinary stormwaves can diffract and focus, as if by some kind of lens, depending upon theshape of the seabed.
By AccuWeather.com's Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews
