Strathmere, NJ Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 1.4 miles southwest of Strathmere, NJ?
USGS's shoreline-change data puts this stretch, 1.4 miles southwest of Strathmere, NJ, at 1.31 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 13.1 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 Strathmere, NJ, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 39.18, -74.68. The survey behind it runs to 2007-2009, in USGS's New England / Mid-Atlantic 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.
What 1.31 ft/yr means over time
Run 1.4 miles southwest of Strathmere, NJ's 1.31 ft/yr rate forward 25 years and it implies about 33 feet of further retreat, assuming nothing changes, which is exactly the assumption a seawall or nourishment project exists to break.
Where this fits nationally
Averaging 40 separate transects produced this segment's rate, with 100% individually reading as erosion, rather than relying on any single survey line. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.17 ft/yr either side. This segment ranks 176 of 1211 measured US coastal segments, ordered from fastest erosion to fastest growth. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2010-1119. Gilgo, NY sits at national rank 82 for erosion (3.5 ft/yr), one reference point among the 1211 scored segments, 120 miles from here. Strathmere, NJ, 1.9 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, reading slight erosion at 0.86 ft/yr.
One address near Strathmere: the Coastal Change Hazards Portal zooms past this stretch to the underlying map.