Gulf Shores, AL Coastal Erosion Rate
What USGS measures 3.2 miles east of Gulf Shores, AL
The coast 3.2 miles east of Gulf Shores, AL shows no statistically significant trend either way. USGS's transects measured a rate here, but it's smaller than the survey's own margin of error for this stretch, so calling it "eroding" or "growing" would overstate what the data actually shows.
What this reading actually covers
Nothing here is parcel-level. USGS's raw transects run every few hundred feet along the shore; this page averages the ones nearest Gulf Shores, AL into one ~3.5-mile reading rather than picking a single arbitrary line to represent the area. Centered near 30.26°N, 87.65°W. Survey years: 2001, method LRR, from USGS's Gulf of Mexico 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 backs this reading up
102 transects feed this segment's number; 61% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.51 ft/yr either side. Taken at face value, this segment's raw -0.08 ft/yr reading would land it 667 of 1211 nationally - a number worth ignoring, since it's statistical noise rather than a real trend. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2004-1089. Rank 1040 nationally for growth belongs to Manhattan Beach, CA, 1812 miles from this stretch, measured at 0.58 ft/yr. 2.1 miles up the coast, Orange Beach, AL shows the same lack of a significant trend.
Not this whole stretch, just Gulf Shores itself: the Coastal Change Hazards Portal is USGS's own live version of this data.