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Weather officials have confirmed a tsunami struck a Florida beach last week, but it's not the kind that ruins cities, drowns communities, and leads to other disasters.
The National Weather Service said a 4-foot wave hit Clearwater Beach on June 21, toppling beach chairs along the shore, per FOX35 Orlando. Meteorologists call this a "meteotsunami," a rare type caused by strong wind gusts and not earthquakes.
"They don't happen that often this time of year, but the current atmospheric pattern has been kind of unusual with all the heat out in Texas and the cool and damp weather in the Northeast," Paul Close, a senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in the Tampa Bay area, told reporters.
Close said storms with 30 to 50 mph winds can push up water near the coast, creating big waves before crashing onto the shore. These tsunamis don't last longer than an hour; once the storm system moves onto land, nothing can sustain the smaller tsunamis, the expert explained.
FOX35 Orlando revealed the meteotsunami that struck Clearwater Beach was about 2.5 feet higher than the forecast wave height. They're also known to reach over six feet in other parts of the world.
The National Weather Service doesn't issue advisories for meteotsunamis, but will send coastal flood watches or warnings if storms will have "substantial impact."