On the statistical distribution of wave heights in a storm

There has been recent controversy over how well the Rayleigh distribution matches the observed distribution of wave heights. Most of this controversy stems from comparisons based on different definitions of the significant wave height. Once consistent definitions are used, all available data support the conclusion that the Rayleigh distribution overpredicts the heights of the higher waves in a record. Analysis of 116 hours of hurricane‐generated waves in the Gulf of Mexico permitted the empirical fitting of the data to a Weibull distribution. Statistics developed from the empirical distribution include the prediction that the highest wave in 1000 is only 0.907 times the height predicted by the Rayleigh distribution.