New Jersey used 47 years of coastal storm data to uncover a hidden erosion threat; the result revealed damaging storm conditions at Sandy Hook now occur twice as often as they did in 1979

For decades, North Beach at Sandy Hook looked like a quiet exception to coastal erosion in New Jersey . The beach was actually getting wider. Sand kept moving north and building new ground along the shoreline. But beneath that growing beach, scientists found a very different story.

A new study has uncovered evidence that damaging coastal storm conditions at Sandy Hook now occur about twice as often as they did in 1979. The finding does not mean New Jersey suddenly has twice as many storms. Instead, storms are more frequently producing the particular combination of high water and powerful waves that can strip sand from the shore.