It has been a stormy and at times destructive few weeks across the state. Already this summer at the Jersey Shore, lifeguards have cleared beachgoers off the sand many times due to bad weather.

A new lightning detection system in Lavallette is about to be installed to help alert people about dangerous weather in the area. There’s currently just one siren along the mile and a half of beach and boardwalk in Lavallette, and it’s connected to Ortley Beach’s warning system.

“We had three days in a row where the guards were pulled off the beach around 2 p.m. and they just kept on hitting,” said Jack Caucino, Lavallette’s lifeguard captain.

Storms on Thursday stayed to the south of the town, but that can change in a hurry. Lightning has already caused its fair share of problems this summer.

“Through a Verizon lawsuit that was settled, part of that was giving us funding for this new system,” said Lavallette Councilman George Shenwolf.

In the coming weeks, three towers will be installed with sirens and strobe lights, replacing the one that has been in operation since the summer of 2023. The new system will detect lightning in either a 10- or 20-mile radius of the lifeguard headquarters on Philadelphia Avenue, relaying to sirens placed on the south and north ends of the boardwalk.

“It allows for consistency where one town may be clearing people off the beach and the others won’t and allowing us to be within the same system, alarms are going off simultaneously, so people get a sense of urgency,” added Caucino.

With Lavallette’s own system coming on board by the end of this month, it will add to other areas on the barrier island with systems on the nearby beaches of Toms River, Seaside Park and Berkeley Township.