2011-2012 Was A Tough Winter for Beaches

Ask most Ohioan and they’ll tell you that the winter of 2011-2012 has been a great one so far.  Many of the snowbirds wonder why they bothered to go south this year.  With the temperatures staying so warm, heating bills have been low and life has been rather pleasant on the North Coast.

However, if you’re a beach, this winter hasn’t been so great and most Lake Erie beaches are living in fear of a possible “Perfect Storm” as spring approaches.  Say what?  Don’t understand how a beach thinks?  Let me clue you in on the problem.

First, the Lake Erie water level this past week was 26 inches above the same time last year.  To a beach, That’s a problem.  Second, there is no ice to protect beaches at the water’s edge like there usually is this time of year.  Third, the winds are blowing the same as ever.

With high water, high wind, and no ice, you have the perfect situation for major shoreline avulsion.  Shoreline what, you say?  Avulsion is a rapid tearing away of the shoreline from a short-term combination if high water and high waves during an ice free period.  Crank up the wind and direct it from the northeast and you have the elements of the Perfect Storm and big time avulsion – like the kind that destroys public parks and makes houses go over the edge.  At this time, there is little that public beach managers and private shoreline owners can do except pray and wait.

Of course, avulsive events are nothing new.  Minor ones occur every year and this year is no exception.  Usually, the beach self-repairs and life on the shore continues as usual.  However, that is not always the case.

Avulsion can be contrasted with erosion, a more common term.  Erosion occurs very slowly and continuously over an extended timeframe.  Erosion is most common on rivers since the water always flows in a single direction along the bank.  Avulsion also occurs on rivers.  On rivers, avulsion occurs during monster rainstorms, usually as the result of stalled weather systems.  On rivers, the path or bed of the water may actually be altered with the result that property boundaries can move from one side of the river to the other.  Of course, that doesn’t happen along the lakeshore.  Under Ohio law, property owners have a right to restore land lost to avulsion.

An avulsive event occurred on Cedar Point on Feb 11, 2012, as shown in the following pictures.  The wind blew from the North West about 20 to 30 knots for about 12 hours.  In subsequent posts, we will explore other avulsive events including the major ones which led to the destruction of the original wonderful natural beach at East Harbor State Park shortly after its opening a half-century ago.

Photo Taken Feb 9, 2012

Photo Taken Feb 12, 2012