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Coastal storm How do coastal storms reshape shorelines?

Trace surge, waves, overwash, dune change, sediment transport, habitat shifts, and recovery across a storm-shaped coast.

lessons

~10 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Adults

level

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What you’ll learn

Storm water risesSeparate storm surge, tide, wave setup, and runup as parts of coastal water level.Wind, waves, shelves, and shoreline shape combine to determine where storm water travels.
Sand moves across shoreTrace beach erosion, overwash, dune change, and inlet formation as sediment transport.Storms redistribute sand across and along barrier systems rather than simply erasing it.
Living and built coasts adaptEvaluate how storms alter habitat, barriers, infrastructure, and recovery choices.A resilient coast is a connected system whose moving parts can be measured and managed together.

Questions this course answers

Why can the same storm produce different surge heights on different coasts?

Storm surge is shaped by the underwater shelf and the geometry of bays, islands, inlets, and shorelines, not just wind speed.

What is overwash?

When wave runup overtops a dune or berm, water carries sand across the barrier and deposits it landward, often in a fan.

Why is a before-and-after beach photograph not enough to measure storm impact?

A photograph can reveal visible change, but surveys, lidar, gauges, imagery, and ecological observations are needed to trace where water and sediment moved and whether recovery follows.

Grounded in trusted sources

NOAA National Hurricane Center, Storm Surge Overview https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/
NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Understanding Stormwater Inundation https://coast.noaa.gov/stormwater-floods/understand/
U.S. Geological Survey, Storm Impact Scale https://www.usgs.gov/centers/spcmsc/science/storm-impact-scale
U.S. Geological Survey, Storm-Related Barrier Island Morphological Evolution https://www.usgs.gov/centers/spcmsc/science/storm-related-barrier-island-morphological-evolution
National Park Service, Coasts / Shorelines - Assateague Island National Seashore https://www.nps.gov/asis/learn/nature/coasts.htm
National Park Service, Barrier Island Response to Storms https://home.nps.gov/articles/barrier-island-response-to-storms.htm

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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