Sensors find hurricane had 91-foot wave

An array of underwater sensors dropped in the path of HurricaneIvan last fall has given Navy researchers new appreciation for howpowerful tropical cyclones can be.

Even as it was weakening to maximum sustained winds of 132 mph inthe cooler waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, Ivan generatedwaves of more than 90 feet, and perhaps as high as 132 feet.

"We measured a 91-footer" on the forward face of Ivan, when thestorm was centered 75 miles south of Gulfport, Miss., on Sept. 15,said William Teague, a researcher at the Naval Research Laboratory atthe Stennis Space Center in …