WALL OF WATER: Gigantic Wave in Pacific Ocean Was Most Extreme ‘Rogue Wave’ on Record. “Such an exceptional event is thought to occur only once every 1,300 years. And unless the buoy had been taken for a ride, we might never have known it even happened. For centuries, rogue waves were considered nothing but nautical folklore. It wasn’t until 1995 that myth became fact. On the first day of the new year, a nearly 26-meter-high wave (85 feet) suddenly struck an oil-drilling platform roughly 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Norway. At the time, the so-called Draupner wave defied all previous models scientists had put together.”

Note that by “most extreme” they’re referring to height relative to the other waves going on, not absolute height. That difference is what constitutes its rogueness.