Evidence of the mild winter of 2011-12 was apparent on Presque Isle State Park, where officials Tuesday saw some of the worst erosion in years on the peninsula's beaches.
"They're not looking as well as they have in the past," Michael Mohr, a coastal engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said.
Without ice on Lake Erie to protect them, beaches like 5 and Stone Jetty lost more than the usual amount of sand moved by wind and waves.
Officials from the park, the Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources were out checking the conditions Tuesday during the annual spring beach walk. Carrying clipboards and cameras, corps representatives recorded spots where sand will have to be added and also a handful of places where sand had accumulated and will need to be removed.
Areas that usually require sand replenishment each year include Beaches 5, 8 and 10 and Stone Jetty. This year will be no exception, officials said.
At Beach 5, where the walk started, park Operations Manager Harry Leslie said, "We anticipate there will be more erosion than usual."
He said it hadn't been this bad since the mid-1990s.
Walkers saw the effects of erosion in areas like Stone Jetty, where sand had washed away as far back as the tree line and roots were showing.
The park will receive about $3 million total in state and federal money for sand work on the peninsula this year, Leslie said.
That amount about equals what Presque Isle received in 2011, a total that was up about $1 million from several previous years.
The 2012 funding should buy enough sand to give the public "good beaches" for the summer, Leslie said.
Officials said the park already has a stockpile of about 14,000 cubic yards of sand that will be used to start the replenishment work.
Leslie said it could begin as early as next week, although the following week is more likely.
Mike Asquith, a project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, said Presque Isle should receive another 45,000 to 50,000 cubic yards of sand this year.
Mohr said officials will look at each area they covered on Tuesday's wet and windy walk to figure out the best way to distribute that sand. He said this year's erosion will make the sand allocation a little more challenging than in recent years when walkers found better conditions in the spring.
Additionally, officials noted tombolos in several locations, such as the Mill Road Beaches. One bar of sand and sediment there stretched out far enough that walkers could reach a breakwater without getting their feet wet.
Tombolos also serve as a source of sand, which is taken from them and relocated where erosion has occurred.
"They'll be helpful," Mohr said.
DANA MASSING can be reached at 870-1729 or by e-mail.