136. The effect of the October storms can be seen particularly well 
in the regime seaward of the offshore bar. Mean sediment sizes are generally 
more coarse, less well sorted, and coarsely skewed (Figure 46). 
Alongshore variation 
137. Sediment samples were obtained along the shore at different pro- 
file locations in March. Mean sediment sizes were observed to increase from 
north to south. Contour diagrams of the mean sediment size for the beach and 
offshore (Figures 47 and 48) show the alongshore and shore-normal variation of 
the sediment sizes described above, except under the FRF pier, where very 
fine, silty sands and an unusually homogeneous layer of organic mud up to 
0.5 m thick filled the scour trough region. 
Photographic Data 
138. Two sets of photographic data were used to document nearshore and 
beach conditions in the vicinity of the FRF during 1982. Daily 35mm trans- 
parencies were taken of the beach from the pier looking both north and south 
(Figure 49). Approximately quarterly aerial photographic missions were also 
flown on the flight lines and dates indicated in Table 16, usually at a scale 
of 1:12,000. Figure 50 is a sample of this imagery obtained on 27 October 
1982. 
Storms 
139. This section discusses the details of storms affecting the FRF. 
As used here, “storms" are times when the wave height parameter Hn equals 
or exceeds 2.0 m at the seaward end of the FRF pier. Hourly data are pre- 
sented in Appendix D; sample spectra from the Baylor gage at the seaward end 
of the pier are given in Appendix B; and pre- and/or poststorm bathymetry 
diagrams are given in Appendix C. 
140. An unusually low number of East Coast (or Eastern Hemisphere) 
tropical cyclones occurred during the summer and fall seasons. Only five 
cyclonic storms were named (named storms have a duration of over 36 hr com- 
pared to an historical average of 10 named storms per year. Eleven named 
storms occurred during 1981, with four in September 1981 alone. Of the five 
storms during 1982, two reached hurricane strength; 1931 was the last time NWS 
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