One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.
I was out by the beach this morning and took the opportunity to see if much was happening yet. I looked at four different spots towards the south end of the Treasure Coast. One beach was showing some erosion, while three others were no different from yesterday.
The above photo is the one beach that was eroding. I took a photo of nearly the same spot yesterday. If you compare the two photos, you can see that where there was a defined two step beach front, the first step of recently accumulated sand is now pretty much gone and what was the second step is now at the front of the beach.
I saw three other detectorists out this morning and I think they were too early. At least at this beach, that was the case. Even though some sand was disappearing, it was not yet productive. Only the recently accumulated sand was being pulled down into the water. And that had stopped for the time being, probably to resume later in the day.
There were some showers on the beach this morning, but things were relatively calm. The waves were hitting the beach almost directly when I was there.
You can see the sea weed line, which is a good indicator that the erosion had stopped for the time being.
About ten o'clock the wind and waves picked up. If we get a change in direction, that might help as the seas increase through the day.
One Beach Without Any Erosion This Morning.
The surf web sites are predicting 12 foot seas by 6 PM today (at Sebastian Inlet). That will occur close to high tide, which would be about 5:30. That might help.
So far, some sand is being moved. I'm not terribly encouraged though. There is some possibility that this could turn out to be another disappointment. I hope not.
The wind direction is predicted to be out of the northeast today, which is good, but Friday and this weekend out of the west. That will push the water out so you can get out lower on the beach, but it probably won't help beach conditions.
I don't have a crystal ball, and I only looked at four spots this morning, but what from what I saw, I can only increase my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Rating to a 2 - at most and part of that based upon things other than what I have actually seen.
Conditions have improved a little on some beaches, but not much yet. The water hasn't been up very high on the beach yet and there is so much sand out there to be moved.
Tomorrow morning will probably tell the story. If we don't see some good erosion by then it might not happen.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
PS: Below I added the text of an alert from Indian River County that may provide additional helpful information. One of this blog's readers forwarded it to me. Thanks much.
BEACH IMPACTS:
TONIGHT: Swells will begin to gradually increase after midnight tonight, then build rapidly Thu/Thu night, and then gradually subside later Fri-Sat.
THURSDAY: A High Surf Advisory has been issued for all beaches (Volusia to Martin County), effective Thu morning through Friday evening.
High swells and surf may arrive a few hours earlier south of Vero Beach and a few hours later north of Cape Canaveral.
Onshore NE winds Thu, will become N Thu evening, then along-shore (NNW) after midnight, then offshore (NW) after sunrise Friday south of the Cape and around mid day north of the Cape.
Onshore/along-shore flow and large swells for 4-5 high tide cycles likely to result in moderate to possibly severe beach erosion. High surf near time of high tides may splash over dunes in isolated locations (history problem areas). The rip current threat will be high to extreme.
ICW: The NWS does not have hard data or forecasts for any potential increase in the normal high tides in the ICW. Past history suggests that with a long term sustained wind a greater volume of ocean water may enter the inlets, at least until the winds change to Northwest.
ICW high tides for 25 August:
Sebastian 7:15 AM 0.4 ft normal height
Vero Beach 8:39 AM 0.9 ft normal height
Ft Pierce 6:32 AM 1.4 ft normal height
FRIDAY:
Breaking surf increasing through the day.
Greatest time of maximum surf begins 2am on Friday with 11-13’ inshore waves and 8-12’ breaking waves decreasing Friday night.
LAND IMPACTS:
THURSDAY:
As occasional squalls move onshore and down the coast, periods of torrential rain and wind gusts of 40-45 mph expected. A few of the squalls may reach into the central Florida interior.
Sustained winds of 30 mph possible for much of Thursday through Friday.
I didn't check all the details to make sure that this agrees totally with the other sources that I've used, so there may be some things that don't totally agree. Just take it as an additional source of good informiation.
TG
