One large storm or a series of storms can cause significant beach and dune erosion. Storm erosion follows a similar but more rapid pattern than seasonal erosion. Damaging storms usually occur in the fall, winter, or early spring months when the “seasonal” beach profile is already relatively lean in shape. Changes seen at the beach are similar to the seasonal changes, with lowering of the beach and extensive loss of the berm. In addition, storm damage usually causes extensive dune erosion, scarping, or complete loss of the frontal dune.

Storm recovery follows a similar process of the seasonal beach, with offshore sandbars providing protection, and slow, gradual build up of the berm in response to smaller waves. This can occur in the course of one season, but may take a year or more. Dune recovery is a much slower process which involves dune vegetation re-establishing, wind transport of sand, and other processes. It can take several seasons to several years or more for a dune to recover naturally from a large storm event.