Found: The Highest Wave Ever Detected by a Buoy

There was a strong cold front, and the wind picked up, faster and faster, until it reached 50.4 mph. This was over the ocean recently, between Iceland and the U.K., off of the Outer Hebrides, the islands along the northwest coast of Scotland.

Out there in the ocean, as the wind blew, a wave grew and grew to 62.3 feet tall—taller than a six story building, as the Guardian puts it—to become the tallest wave ever recorded by a buoy.

According to Britain’s World Meteorological Organization, the previous record holding wave was 59.95 feet tall.

There has been at least one wave taller than this new record-holder observed by humans. In 2002, the BBC reports, a ship saw a 95 feet wave cross the North Atlantic.