Ferndale, CA Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 7 miles southwest of Ferndale, CA?
USGS's shoreline-change data puts this stretch, 7 miles southwest of Ferndale, CA, at 0.97 feet of erosion a year on average, a long-term rate for this specific ~3.5-mile section, not one storm's damage. At that rate, the shoreline has lost roughly 9.7 feet over the last decade.
The grain of this number
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Ferndale, CA, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 40.53, -124.38. Survey years: 1852-2016, method LRR, from USGS's California shoreline-change assessment. That's how current the data is here, real, but not a live feed, since a shoreline survey is a major undertaking, not an annual check-in.
What 0.97 ft/yr means over time
Run 7 miles southwest of Ferndale, CA's 0.97 ft/yr rate forward 25 years and it implies about 24 feet of further retreat, assuming nothing changes, which is exactly the assumption a seawall or nourishment project exists to break.
Where this fits nationally
5 transects feed this segment's number; 100% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.66 ft/yr either side. Sorted from fastest erosion to fastest growth across all 1211 measured segments nationally, this one lands at 201. Source: USGS National Shoreline Change data release (ScienceBase, DOI 10.5066/P94J0K7Z), Kratzmann 2024 / Data Report 1187. Rank 354 nationally for erosion belongs to Fort Hunter Liggett, CA, 355 miles from this stretch, measured at 0.4 ft/yr, 0.4x this stretch's rate. Ferndale, CA, 1.8 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, reading moderate erosion at 1.4 ft/yr.
Ferndale, CA on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.