Long Branch Waves (Sep—Oct-Nov), % Occurrence 
°o 
9 
Figure 11. Long Branch wave rose (fall) 
In the spring and summer, the dominant wave direction is 135 deg 
(southeast) (46-55 percent). The adjoining bands (112.5 and 157.5 deg) account 
for 20-28 percent and 13-18 percent, respectively. Occurrences of wave 
directions outside the range 78.8 to 168.7 deg are rare. Angles north of this 
range are sheltered by Long Island, and local wave generation is limited by the 
short fetch. Angles south of the range are nearly parallel to shore and thus 
would have refracted to less oblique angles seaward of the 33-ft (10-m) depth, 
unless the wave periods were very short. The east-southeast and southeast 
dominant wave directions are consistent with the northerly direction of net 
longshore sand transport at Monmouth Beach. Figures 12 and 13 present 
histograms of the wave height and period distributions for all populated wave 
directions. The histograms again show that the dominant wave directions are in 
the 112.5- and 135-deg bands. The distributions of wave heights less than 3.3 ft 
(1.0 m) are fairly flat, with a large drop off in heights above 3.3 ft (1.0 m). The 
90-deg band has a relatively flat distribution of heights and periods. The 
direction bands 22.5, 45.0, 67.5, and 180.0 deg contain only short-period and 
low-wave-height events. 
The incident wave directions illustrated in the statistical tables and figures 
show that the wave climate at Monmouth Beach is dominated by waves from the 
southeast (39 percent) and east-southeast (32 percent). Fourteen percent of the 
waves approach from the east, but less than 2 percent total from directions north 
of east, and these are short-period, small-height waves. 
Chapter 2 Waves Focusing by Shrewsbury Rocks 
13 
