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Meteotsunami

Ocean and Marine Phenomena

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A tsunami-like series of ocean or lake waves generated not by seismic activity but by rapid changes in atmospheric pressure and wind associated with a fast-moving storm front, squall line or other weather system. As the pressure disturbance travels across the water at a speed matching the water's own wave speed, it can pump energy into the wave field through resonance, producing a surge that arrives with little warning along an otherwise calm coast. The Great Lakes and the Balearic Islands both see meteotsunamis regularly enough that the phenomenon is locally named and monitored.

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