The summer climate and winter climate in New Jersey bring out two completely and uniquely different atmospheres.  The air, the people, the wildlife, and everything in between seems to shift between the months of August and December.

It’s as simple as it is; the winter at the Jersey Shore is not like Florida or California winters.  It doesn’t stay warm year-round and the water temperature drops a good thirty to forty degrees during the winter months.  To some, this shift may seem miserable and in extreme cases, some might cast the coast and coastal towns away during the winter months, seeing no value to them.  To me and many other locals however, the winter months are prime beach months.  The coast itself becomes somewhat of a playground for the locals as the hordes of day-trippers and renters who crowded the beaches, taking up valuable fishing spots and lookout points, are no longer there.  In addition, there are no lifeguards on duty so if you are confident in your swimming or surfing abilities, this becomes the best time to surf.  The winter also brings a change in swell to the Jersey Shore, creating bigger waves and brining fish closer to the coastline.  This is why wintertime fishing as well as surfing are so epitomized by the locals.  Anyone who is lucky enough to live at the Jersey shore is given the opportunity to surf bigger and better waves as well as catch more fish.

Yet, all the benefits the winter months bring for the locals also comes with the sadness of empty, desolate towns and closed businesses.  The majority of the communities that make up the Jersey shore are comprised of people who own second homes.  As a result, the once bustling homes during the months of May to August are left vacant and dark during the fall, winter, and spring.   This makes the towns feel somewhat like ghost towns with huge empty houses with an interspersed year-long Jersey shore resident.  Along with the vacated homes comes the vacated local businesses.  Most of the business that make up the shore economy only operate during the summer months as this is when they make enough money to operate and turn a profit.  For the majority of these businesses, the cost of staying open during the offseason is more than what they make.  This puts owners in the position to make the decision that saying closed during the winter months is more beneficial from a financial standpoint.  Therefore, the shore community only has a few businesses, mostly food stores and chains, open every couple of miles.

While the Jersey Shore seems to lose some of its personality during the winter months, its true beauty and uniqueness remain.