Over the coarse of a year there can be a net flow of water and sediment in one direction. Seasonal changes in weather patterns change the predominant direction of the wind and subsequently the waves. Wind can play a major part in moving sand on the beach face, sand flats and dunes. Storms will throw sand up onto the beach, higher than normal sea level. Once sand is above sea level, then wind can directly transport sand.
Sand is moved along the beach both by the longshore current and by wind.
Waves can strike the beach at an angle, moving sand up along with it, but the water flows back down the beach at a right angle to the coast line. The effect is a zig-zag pattern, which results in transport of sand along the beach. During fair-weather conditions along Fenwick Island, especially in the summer, there is a slow persistent movement of sand to the north in response to prevailing waves from the southeast. During storms, predominantly in the winter, waves from the northeast prevail and the longshore current is southward. In the absence of more severe winter storms, waves are usually much gentler in the summer and tend to deposit materials rather than erode.