JUPITER, Fla. — For more than a week now, we’ve been watching as the rough seas have been taking a chunk out of our coastline.
In Jupiter, the combination of high tides and offshore storms has forced the town to close off four beach access points, north of Marcinski Road.
WATCH BELOW: 'A little surprising,' Chris Brehm tells WPTV
At one stairwell, there’s a three-foot drop off.
“A little surprising but in the last six to eight weeks we’ve had a lot of wind and rain," said resident Chris Brehm.
The Town of Jupiter told me they’ll be working with engineering and Palm Beach County to get the access points reopened as soon as possible.
So who better to ask why we’re seeing this than WPTV First Alert Chief Meterologist Steve Weagle, who tells me October is traditionally one of our windiest months.
"What happens is the Bermuda high is repositioning itself. This time of year, it’s headed more toward Florida, and over the summer, it’s over Bermuda," said Weagle. "As it shifts in fall and spring, the wind really picks up."
Weagle told me he’s seen much worse erosion, certainly after a hurricane. However, swells from offshore storms make a difference.
"When you start seeing the stairs close down and start getting washed away, even if it’s at the bottom, that’s bad," said Weagle.
At the nearby Loggerhead Marinelife Center, they’re monitoring the weather for the few weeks left in what has been a near record turtle nesting season.
"What happens is two things, we start to see beach erosion and a lot of the hatchlings that have made it offshore from nests that have hatched previously can get blown back in," said Vice President of Research Dr. Justin Perrault.
Loggerhead Marinelife Center is also waiting for calmer seas before releasing some of the hatchlings they've rescued back out into the ocean.
Right now, there are 2,100 nests on a 9 and a half mile stretch of beach in northern Palm Beach County.
