Despite winter storms, New Jersey beaches in good shape for the holiday weekend

New Jersey beaches are in good shape says Jon Miller, a professor at Stephens Institute of Technology, who specializes in coastal research.

“We had a rough winter certainly from a shoveling snow standpoint, but a lot of those storms that brought the snow didn’t take a track where they generated the types of conditions along the coast that cause a lot of beach erosion,” Miller said. The winds and waves are relatively calm. Ocean water temperatures are near 70 degrees, about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year.

Stewart Farrell is the director of the Coastal Research Center at Richard Stockton College. He says conditions are right for plenty of oceanfront activities. “The waves are not bad,” Farrell said. “There’s been quite half-decent surfing. In fact, with the winds going the way they were, people were out kite boarding and all kinds of other things that are quite unusual because it’s seldom that the waves, the winds, and everything are set for that.”

Officials urge you to swim near where lifeguards are stationed because rip currents can suddenly occur at any time.