Longshore currents have been primarily modeled by assuming alongshore
uniformity. In this paper we revisit the problem of nonuniform longsho
re currents to refocus attention on the importance of accounting for a
longshore nonuniformity in longshore current predictions and to provid
e an analytical estimate of the importance of this nonuniformity. We d
erive a semianalytical solution for the longshore currents that allows
for weak alongshore variations in the bottom topography. The solution
shows that the alongshore pressure gradient induced by alongshore var
iations in the bottom topography could contribute substantially to the
forcing for the longshore currents. An example calculation shows that
the longshore current could deviate by up to +/-30% from the mean for
a +/-10% deviation of the bottom topography. Thus we suggest that in
many practical cases it is important to include the alongshore pressur
e gradient to accurately model longshore currents.