# Sneaker Waves

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 20, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926 "2014-10-20T16:16:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926/1 "2014-10-20T16:16:15Z")

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I noticed that there is a warning today for “Sneaker Waves” on the south coast of Oregon. My question is: If sneaker waves have no known cause, how can they be predicted?

> **[Local Weather Forecast, News and Conditions | Weather Underground](https://www.wunderground.com/)**
>
> Weather Underground provides local & long-range weather forecasts, weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide

> **[Sneaker wave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneaker_wave)**
>
> A sneaker wave, also known as a sleeper wave, or in Australia as a king wave, is a disproportionately large coastal wave that can sometimes appear in a wave train without warning.
> The term "sneaker wave" is popular rather than scientific, derived from the observation that such a wave can "sneak up" on an unwary beachgoer. There is no scientific coverage of the phenomenon as a distinct sort of wave with respect to height or predictability as there is on other extreme wave events such as tsunamis...

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**Author:** ![halfreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@halfreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfreal)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926/2 "2014-10-20T16:33:23Z")

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It seems to me that the warning is not for sneaker waves per se, but for _dangerous_ ones - because the regular waves are already high, and sneaker waves are even higher.

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**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926/3 "2014-10-20T17:04:26Z")

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[Aftermath](http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/04/14/150581903/the-strange-persistence-of-shoes-at-sea) of a sneaker wave.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926/4 "2014-10-20T18:49:20Z")

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> [@lieu](#):
>
> [Aftermath](http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/04/14/150581903/the-strange-persistence-of-shoes-at-sea) of a sneaker wave.

The horror.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaker-waves/701926/5 "2014-10-22T19:16:45Z")

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Some years ago, I saw part of an article about the flotsam from lost shipping containers. Originally, I searched for stuff about the millions of bathtub toys’ voyages around the globe.

The serendipitous story featured sneakers that washed up many miles away. The guy said right shoes and left shoes were not equally seaworthy. He said one side is much more likely to wash ashore. Alas, that’s where I lost interest, and I can’t tell you which side that is. :smack: