A WAVE recorded off Mizen Head during Storm Éowyn reached a height which was almost the length of a tennis court.
The wave, recorded by a buoy located 31 nautical miles (57km) west of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, was measured at 20.15 metres tall.
The wave was recorded on Friday January 25th by the M3 buoy – part of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network – managed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with Met Éireann.
The M3 buoy is 31 nautical miles from the Fastnet Rock.
The Marine Institute said the measurements taken on the day ‘confirm the extraordinary strength of Storm Éowyn’.
A wave height of 18.75 metres was recorded by the M4 buoy, located 45 nautical miles (83km) off the Donegal coast.
Although not record wave heights at these locations, the data buoys operated throughout unprecedented storm conditions and have remained in position and continued to report all parameters since Storm Éowyn passed.
The M3 and M4 data buoys are part of a network of five observing buoys located in the seas around Ireland.
Significant wind speeds were also recorded by Marine Institute buoys on the same day off the Galway coast with the Mace Head data buoy showing winds of 114kph and gusts up to 162kph. The data buoy at Lehanagh Pool in Connemara recorded wind speeds of 100kph and gusts of 150kph.
The data buoys collect weather and ocean data including wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, air and sea surface temperature, and wave statistics. This information is vital for improving weather forecasts, as well as providing data for operational ocean models, shipping bulletins, gale and swell warnings, and scientific research including climate change. Wind data which is collected by Irish Lights at the Fastnet Rock did, however, experience an interruption for some time on the day.
A request for more information on the interruption did not meet a response by the time of going to press.
