Dotsenko S.F., Ivanov V.A., Poberezhny Yu.A.
Analysis of the wind wave measurements in the north-western Black Sea from December 2000 to January 2001 allowed to select 67 cases of freak waves in a form of single waves and as a member of wave packets of non-freak waves. The waves have an appreciable asymmetry: their front slopes are generally steeper than the back slopes, and the previous and the following freak wave wave troughs vary in depth and width. Involvement of meteorological data has allowed to analyze the feasible relations between the formation of abnormal waves and wind flow. Two characteristic types of situations are found. In the first, the birth of freak waves is accompanied by substantial changes in the wind speed direction, in the second situation its formation is preceded by the wind of almost constant direction.
