The Long Journey of a Wave
All scenes › Chapter 3 Swell crosses the ocean
The sea in a storm
In a storm, waves of every length and direction pile on top of each other
View in 3DA jumble of waves
The sea under a storm is a mess. The wind blows from several directions and keeps changing strength, so waves of every length and direction pile on top of each other. The sea on screen is six waves, from 27 m to 132 m crest to crest, added together. Now these waves start spreading out of the storm.
Why?When the wind makes a wave too steep, its crest cannot hold up and breaks into white water. That is why a stormy sea is covered in whitecaps.
Learn moreOnce a wave is taller than about one seventh of its crest-to-crest distance, its crest collapses even in deep water (Michell, 1893). The “wave height” in weather forecasts is usually the average of the highest third of the waves. Now and then, a wave about twice that size is mixed in.
- Fully grown waves in a 20 m/s wind
- 8.6 m
calculated from the textbook equations for water waves (linear wave theory)
View this scene in 3D →Read more
Wikipedia: Wind wave · Wikipedia: Miche criterion
More in the series
The numbers come from the textbook equations for water waves (linear wave theory, the dispersion relation and shoaling). In the 3D view, wave heights are drawn larger; the seabed slope and the shape of breaking waves are rough sketches.