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The dramatic swell conditions in the Atlantic Ocean caused by the remnants of Hurricane Epsilon saw waves of more than 18 meters off the coast of Sligo.
Elite surfer Conor Maguire, who caught the waves at Mullaghmore, said it was a unique and special experience.
“There are only a handful of days like this in your entire life to experience that today was quite special,” he told RTÉ News.
From Bundoran in Co Donegal, Conor was the only surfer in the Mullaghmore waves today, accompanied by a security team and the Red Bull film crew.
Met Éireann said that data collected by the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network showed that “significant wave heights” of between ten and 16 meters were recorded during the day, with buoy 6 recording a maximum height of 21, 7 meters.
In 2013, waves of more than 15 meters or 50 feet were seen off Mullaghmore.
Experienced surfers Barry Mottershead and Dylan Stott were part of Conor’s safety team today.
“They’ve been surfing there for about 15 years and they’ve never seen anything like this,” Conor said.
“It was very special to see him that size, it’s quite rare.”
These waves were expected, as Met Éireann meteorologist Gerry Murphy explained.
“There is a very deep depression in the North Atlantic right now, which is actually the remnants of Hurricane Epsilon.
“In the last 24 hours the level of depression dropped to 955 hPa, which is a very low pressure and this allowed the generation of very high waves in the Atlantic, which caused a significant swell and, consequently, very high waves moving nearby from the Irish coast “.
Fortunately, he said, the risk of flooding on land is said to be low.
Tomorrow, Conor will be back on your board.
“There are carry-overs from this swell tomorrow, so it will still be 20 to 30 feet (six to nine meters), which will feel small after today,” he said.
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