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Weather Nerdy

Hurricane Erin waves: Towering surf and Outer Banks impact

Waves as high as a 7 story building.

Monster swells offshore


Hurricane Erin is flexing its muscles far out in the Atlantic, and the ocean is answering back. Swells are topping 50 to 70 feet, as tall as a seven-story building.


It’s like a moving condo tower made of seawater. That wave is big enough to fill 250 million pint glasses of beer. These Hurricane Erin waves are some of the most powerful the Atlantic has seen in recent years.



How are Hurricane Erin waves this big?


  • Hurricane Erin is massive, with powerful winds blowing over a wide stretch of ocean.

  • Those winds transfer energy into the water, building huge swells.

  • The longer the winds blow across open water, the larger the waves become.

  • These Hurricane Erin waves are long-period swells that can travel hundreds of miles, reaching shores that never see a drop of rain.



What the Outer Banks on North Carolina will feel?


  • Surf running up to 20 feet or more. The National Weather Service predicts waves could exceed 20 feet in some areas, causing severe beach erosion and coastal flooding

  • Peak Impact Timing: The most significant wave activity is expected from late Tuesday, August 19, through Thursday, August 20, with high surf advisories in effect.

  • Dangerous rip currents turning the shoreline into a riptide factory



Ocean trivia that will blow your beach hat off


  • Record breaker: The tallest Atlantic hurricane wave ever measured was 98 feet during Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the height of a ten-story skyscraper. Hurricane Erin waves may not break that record, but they already rank among the strongest of the past two decades.


  • The Graveyard of the Atlantic: The Outer Banks are a 120-mile sandbar “speed bump” protecting the coast. More than 600 shipwrecks rest offshore, a reminder of how punishing these waters can be.


  • Reach that stuns: Hurricanes generate waves hundreds of miles ahead of the storm. You do not have to be in Erin’s cone to feel its watery punch.


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Nerdy takeaway


Hurricane Erin’s waves will steal the spotlight. Admire them, photograph them, brag about them. Just don’t try starring in them, that role never ends well.


— Weather Nerdy: where hurricanes bring the chaos, and we bring the facts.

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