An unusually long period between waves was detected in Sydney.
© PexelsAn unusually long period between waves was detected in Sydney.
An Australian beach has recorded a strange phenomenon, one that experts say has a lesser likelihood of happening than being struck by lighting. Meteorologists detected off the coast of Sydney what they are calling a long period between waves. They say that this is highly unusual to happen at this time of the year, Nine News reported.

A wave period almost triple the normal length expected was seen at Freshwater Beach Tuesday morning. The time that passes between consecutive two wave crests hitting a certain point was noted to be 22 seconds long, according to Weatherzone. A normal wave period, according to experts, is between 8 and 12 seconds.

Longer wave periods are also known as groundswells and can generate extremely powerful waves. The Manly laboratory says this is one of the largest wave periods recorded in the country since 1992.

An unusually long period between waves was detected in Sydney.
© PexelsAn unusually long period between waves was detected in Sydney.

According to data from the Many Hydraulics Laboratory, a wave period of 16 seconds has a 0.8 per cent chance of occurring at the moment. This percentage drops to 0.004 per cent in the case of 20-second wave periods.

In comparison, the chance that a person will be struck by lightning is 1 in 12,000 or 0.0833 per cent.

The reason for the long wave period is the powerful winds reported in Antarctica last week, meteorologists say. However, the strange occurrence is not likely to affect the coastline.