Special Marine Warning for Apalachee Bay and Florida Panhandle Waters

Source: NOAA · Florida Panhandle Coastal Waters

If you are in immediate danger, call emergency services now.

For real-time, official alerts and instructions for your exact location, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia) as applicable. This article is a data summary, not a substitute for the issuing agency's live warning.

Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.

NWS Tallahassee has issued a Special Marine Warning for multiple coastal waters and bays in the Florida Panhandle due to severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Special Marine Warning
Affected area
Florida Panhandle Coastal Waters
Issued
August 29, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Tallahassee FL

Marine notices apply to named waters or shoreline zones. They may not describe conditions on land, even when the nearest place name is the same.

Record status: publication date is recent, but current status is not stored on this page. Check the issuing agency's live warning service before acting because warnings can be updated, narrowed, or cancelled.

Alert Details

Special Marine Warning issued by NWS Tallahassee FL. Effective from August 29, 2026 at 3:29 AM EDT until August 29, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT. The alert covers severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts.

Affected Areas

Apalachee Bay or Coastal Waters From Keaton Beach to Ochlockonee River FL out to 20 Nm; St. Andrews Bay Waterways; Coastal waters from Okaloosa-Walton County Line to Mexico Beach out 20 NM; Coastal Waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola out 20 NM; Coastal Waters From Ochlockonee River to Apalachicola FL out to 20 Nm; Waters from Okaloosa-Walton County Line to Mexico Beach from 20 to 60 NM; Waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola FL from 20 to 60 NM; Waters from Suwannee River to Apalachicola FL from 20 to 60 NM. Locations impacted include O Tower, Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe, S Tower, Apalachicola, C Tower, Cape San Blas, and St George Island.

What You Should Do

Move to safe harbor until hazardous weather passes. Make sure all on board are wearing life jackets.

Expected Conditions

Waterspouts and wind gusts 34 knots or greater. Expect wind gusts in excess of 34 knots, suddenly higher waves, frequent lightning, and heavy downpours.

Timeline

Alert effective August 29, 2026 at 3:29 AM EDT and expires August 29, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT.

Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗

All Weather Alerts →

Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8

Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this NWS weather alert.

What is this NWS weather alert about?
NWS Tallahassee has issued a Special Marine Warning for multiple coastal waters and bays in the Florida Panhandle due to severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts.
Which agency issued this alert?
This alert was issued by NOAA. The original notice is available at the source link at the bottom of this article.
How severe is this alert?
This alert is classified as "high" severity. Take precautions and monitor for updates.
What area is affected?
This alert affects Florida Panhandle Coastal Waters. Check with NOAA for the most current geographic scope.
Where can I find more Weather Alerts updates?
Browse the full Weather Alerts feed on Areazine at areazine.com/weather/ for the latest updates from NOAA and other agencies.