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Why many Massachusetts beaches lose sand in winter

January to March

Many sandy Massachusetts ocean beaches change shape with the seasons: winter storm waves can strip sand off the upper beach and park it in sandbars just offshore, though beaches of coarser sand and stones change much less. Calmer waves from late spring through fall bring sand back.

Why this time of year

Winter is when storm waves cut the beach down. Nearly all of 18 eroding Massachusetts beaches surveyed by state geologists lost a layer of sand in winter, and some sandy ones pulled back by up to 10 to 20 meters (about 33 to 66 feet). Sand returns from late spring through fall, so a winter visit shows you the beach with its summer cover pulled off.

How to notice it

  1. Stand at the top of the beach path or stairs and look at how far down the sand sits compared with what you remember from summer. A beach that has lost sand sits lower.
  2. Look toward the dunes or bank for a steep, freshly cut face. That is where storm waves bit into the shore. Look at it from a distance; do not climb it or stand under it.
  3. From the upper beach, look across the lower beach for stones and cobbles that summer sand usually covers. On some beaches after big storms you may also see dark, spongy peat or old tree stumps poking out; look but leave them in place.
  4. Watch the waves offshore: a line where they break well out from the beach may be the sandbar holding the sand that left the beach.

Try this with kids: From a safe spot well back from the waves, point to where you think the summer sand went. Then spot the biggest stone the storms uncovered from where you stand.

Word to know: A “sandbar” is a low underwater ridge of sand that runs along the shore, where breaking waves often show its line.

Safety

  • Winter surf after a storm is big and powerful; stay well back from the water's edge and never turn your back on the waves.
  • Eroded dunes, banks and cliffs can be steep and unstable after storms, and slides happen in winter; stay off them and keep away from their base.
  • Peat and old stumps are fragile, and some Cape Cod towns prohibit removing peat when shellfishing; look without digging or taking pieces.

Sources

  • seagrant.whoi.eduPrimary (Woods Hole Sea Grant / Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Marine Extension Bulletin, Maio and Berman, July 2013, read 2026-11-06). Quotes: 'steeper high-energy waves during the winter months cause sediment to move seaward and the milder late spring through fall wave causes sand to return to the beach'; missing sand is 'stored in shallow water areas offshore, typically forming a nearshore sandbar'; 'During the summer months the more gentle wind and waves bring sand back onto the dry beach from the offshore bars.' Also: storms expose peat and stumps that 'will likely be buried over the course of this summer'; eroded banks and dunes 'still have steep slopes'; peat 'is quite fragile' and 'some towns on Cape Cod have prohibited the removal of peat'; Coast Guard Beach regained 'over 5' of sand from March to May' 2013; the Blizzard of 2013 left 'beach stairs dangling in the air'. Peat and stump exposure is tied to strong storm winters ('to a degree rarely seen'), not to every winter.
  • seagrant.whoi.eduPrimary-expert (Giese and Giese, 'The Eroding Shores of Outer Cape Cod', APCC Informational Bulletin No. 5, 1974, reprinted January 1994 with a WHOI Sea Grant grant; read 2026-11-06). Quotes: 'The beach sand is cut away and carried offshore by the turbulence of the surf'; 'Where during summer a steep foreshore rose to a high berm, in winter a low flat beach extends'; beach height 'may be reduced by as much as ten feet at a single spot'; 'The erosion of the outer arm of Cape Cod takes place every winter. More some winters than others.' Gale breakers on the offshore bar 'sometimes reach heights of twenty feet or more'. Cliff slides at Highland Light: 'Again in December and January other slides occurred'. Supports the winter safety note and December-January timing on the Outer Cape.
  • boem.govPrimary (Massachusetts Geological Survey / UMass Amherst, Venti, Mabee and Woodruff, BOEM summary report dated 7/22/2016; read 2026-11-06). Summer and winter profiles at 18 Massachusetts beaches: 'nearly all beaches lose a veneer of sand size particles in the winter'; outwash beaches 'show significant (up to 10 to 20 meters) retreat in winter'; till or moraine beaches 'show 2.5 meters or less of retreat'. The winter surveys were taken in March 2015 and March 2016 (summer surveys August/September), so March still shows the winter beach.
  • srpedd.s3.amazonaws.comSecondary, municipal outreach (Town of Westport Barrier Beach Management Planning 'Coastal Processes 101', project team Woods Hole Group, Town of Westport and SRPEDD, funded by Massachusetts CZM, Summer 2025; read 2026-11-06). Quotes: 'In the winter, sand is eroded and transported offshore, forming sandbars'; 'winter waves cut into the beach, transporting the sand offshore and narrowing the beach. With less sand covering the beach, more cobble and rocks are exposed.' In summer sand 'covers any cobble and rock'. Winter is driven by northwest winds, storms and nor'easters; wind speeds rise because of 'the large temperature difference between the poles and the equator' (supports the cooling-season trigger).
  • nps.govPrimary but general, not Massachusetts-specific (NPS Coastal Geomorphology article 'Beach Response to Storms', updated June 5, 2019; photo is Cape Lookout NC; read 2026-11-06). Names the calm profile the 'summer' or 'berm' profile and the storm profile the 'winter' or 'bar' profile, with sand 'stored offshore in bars parallel to the shoreline'; storm waves 'cut back the berm, forming a scarp and flattening the slope of the beach profile'. Confirms the terms and the scarp; it carries no Massachusetts timing.

Checked against these sources on November 6, 2026.

In the guide for January, February, March

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