Miramar Beach, FL Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 5.3 miles east of Miramar Beach, FL?
The coast 5.3 miles east of Miramar Beach, FL 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 Miramar Beach, FL into one ~3.5-mile reading rather than picking a single arbitrary line to represent the area. Centered near 30.38°N, 86.26°W. The survey behind it runs to 2001, in USGS's Gulf of Mexico assessment, using the LRR method. Shoreline surveys aren't repeated every year, so this is the most recent long-term measurement USGS has published for this coast, not a live reading.
How solid is this number
75 transects feed this segment's number; 92% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.44 ft/yr either side. Taken at face value, this segment's raw -0.07 ft/yr reading would land it 684 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 1005 nationally for growth belongs to Camp Pendleton South, CA, 1837 miles from this stretch, measured at 0.44 ft/yr. 1.6 miles up the coast, Miramar Beach, FL shows the same lack of a significant trend.
Miramar Beach, FL on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.