© Alex Driehaus/Naples Daily News
Strong winds push waves all the way up the beach on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, in Port Royal.
Scientists think a meteotsunami hit Southwest Florida last week, sending surf rushing up beach access walkways.
"It's not like what you see with a tsunami wave caused by an earthquake," said Chris Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
But it's a fairly rare occurrence. Last week's apparent meteotsunami caused water levels to jump by nearly a foot and forced beachgoers from Naples to Sanibel Island to scurry out of the way of waves last week.
A meteotsunami - not to be confused with a tsunami - consists of large waves caused by air pressure disturbances and quick-moving storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Tsunamis generally are attributed to large displacements of water, usually from major seismic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or explosions.
At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20,
temperatures dropped by almost 10 degrees in Southwest Florida as barometric pressure momentarily rose by 1.6 millibars. Waves were projected to be about 1.7 feet at 1:30 p.m. but reached 5.04 feet before decreasing rapidly over the next hour.
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