The shoreline along Puget Sound shifts with the seasons. Winter storms bring larger waves. The beach erodes, as more materials are swept along the shoreline and away from the beach.

Beaches change with the seasons. Beach profiles are often narrow in the winter and wide in the summer.

Sand Shifts With Seasons

Many of the beaches in northern Puget Sound consist of a shallow veneer of sand or gravel over rocks. During winter months, storms remove most of the sand, exposing cobbles and underlying bedrock. In the summer, the sand returns.

At South Whidbey State Park in Island County, sand bars cover the lower portion of the gravel beach. Sand moves with the seasons and storms, sometimes covering much of the beach, other times being drawn offshore.

South Whidbey State Park, Island County.

Coastal Change: Natural Processes, USGS.
How coastal lands change with seasons and storms.