Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
 |
| 2000 - 2014
Chart Showing Number of Storms That Hit Florida Since 2000.
|
You never know when and where you'll find something interesting. You can narrow it down a bit though. That is one thing I talk about a lot - the probability of finding interesting things at the beach at different times. That is the reason I developed the Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Metal Detecting Conditions Rating Scale. Unfortunately we've been stuck on a single rating ( 1 ) for so long and frequently as of late that I quit giving the rating on a daily basis like I did in previous years. Too bad I didn't keep a record of my daily ratings. I would have liked to be able to look at the trends over those years.
I mentioned the gold nugget beach find that was found and posted in the Spring of 2014. We had some decent erosion and hunting that year, but not this Spring.
When I started the blog back a number of years ago there were frequent rating changes, but not hardly any the past couple of years. We've just been in a very slow period. That has to change sometime, hopefully sooner rather than later.
2004 and 2005 were heavy hurricane seasons for Florida. We all remember when the Treasure Coast was hit by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in a three week period back in 2004. A lot of finds were made after those storms. I hadn't started his blog yet, but I remember it well.
2013 and 2014 were pretty much the opposite of 2004 and 2005. Very calm weather with very little erosion, and correspondingly very very few older beach finds. It just goes to show how things get hot and then cold.
Since 2014 we haven't had a hurricane. That is atypical, however this year is projected to be a calm hurricane season too.
In 2012 we had Sandy, which didn't hit Florida. Sandy didn't cause hardly any erosion on the Treasure Coast, but as she passed by she did cause high waters and a good number of old finds. It doesn't seem that long ago. I remember a lot of people hunting up on the back beaches after Sandy. And that is where some things were found.
The October to February time period is when most of the good hunting of treasure coins has typically and historically occurred on the Treasure Coast beaches. We're well past the good winter hunting season now. It is very much over. Now we're getting close to the hurricane season.
The winter season is typically best. There can be a few months where the sand leaves the beach in fits and starts over a period of months. The change to more South winds in the spring reverses the process and starts to build the beaches again.
The one thing that can change things in the summer is a good storm that takes a lot of sand all at once. It really doesn't take a hurricane but a hurricane can really do the job.
Not all hurricanes do the same thing though. Hurricane Andrew caused very little erosion in the Fort Lauderdale and Miami areas. It was something like what Sandy did for us. The water got high on the beach but there were few cuts.
There was one carpet of silver that I found right after Andrew, and Andrew got me started into bottle hunting.
Maybe I can talk about that carpet of silver some other time. Unfortunately I don't have a picture but it was a very unique event and occurred in a location where I never saw people.
As the chart above shows, the storm season peaks in August and September. We are in a lull between the winter season and the hurricane season right now. That is if you are interested in finding old items on the beach.
For modern items Spring Break is over and we are getting into the hot summer season with smooth seas, which can make for easy and profitable water hunting for modern items.
The multitude of beach renourishment projects of recent years has complicated matters.
On the few beaches that aren't piled in mushy sand, you can see sand bars just off shore. That sand will tend to make its way back in as long as we have south winds. The sand bars will come closer to shore and the dips will get filled.
When a sand bar is moving check the back side of the sand bar, especially if people have been congregating on the bar.
Here is a link to a site that lists and discusses the storm seasons from 2000 - 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Florida_hurricanes_%282000%E2%80%93present%29#Monthly_statistics
Considering the poor beach detecting conditions we've had over the past couple of years, you definitely will want to stay on top of things so you don't miss any short term improved conditions that do occur. Those periods can be as short as days or even hours. But eventually we'll get back into a longer term period of improved conditions that will last a period of years.
----
Some very important archaeology takes place on the Treasure Coast. Maybe you've heard of Vero Man, for example. Here is a good article showing the importance of Treasure Coast archeology
http://www.npr.org/2015/02/21/387313451/can-you-dig-it-more-evidence-suggests-humans-from-the-ice-age
----
On the Treasure Coast we have some very good negative tides today. The surf is about two to three feet and a foot or so less tomorrow.
I hope you take a look at some of the old popular posts that are now listed on the first page of the blog.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
