Special Marine Warning for Coastal Waters from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine FL
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on August 18, 2026, 5 days ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
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 Jacksonville has issued a Special Marine Warning for coastal waters from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine FL out 20 NM until 4:30 PM EDT due to a strong thunderstorm producing wind gusts to 40 knots and small hail.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Northeast Florida Coastal Waters
- Issued
- August 18, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Jacksonville 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: historical. It was issued 5 days ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Northeast Florida Coastal Waters.
Alert Details
Special Marine Warning issued by NWS Jacksonville FL. Effective from 3:35 PM EDT August 18, 2026 until 4:30 PM EDT August 18, 2026. Severity: Severe. Urgency: Immediate. Certainty: Likely.
Affected Areas
Coastal waters from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine FL out 20 NM. Locations impacted include Atlantic Beach, Palm Valley, Jacksonville Beach, Mayport, Talbot Island, Nassau Sound Approach Buoy 6a, Saint Johns Lighted Buoy, and Guana River State Park. A strong thunderstorm was located over Mayport, or 32 nm north of Saint Augustine, moving southeast at 10 knots.
What You Should Do
Move to safe harbor immediately as gusty winds and high waves are expected. If your vessel is caught offshore, immediately secure for heavy weather. Ensure all crew members are wearing USCG approved Type I life jackets and nonessential crew are below decks. Deploy jack lines and harnesses if available. Check life saving equipment, including batteries on handheld radios, for readiness.
Expected Conditions
Wind gusts to 40 knots and small hail. Small craft could be damaged in briefly higher winds and suddenly higher waves.
Timeline
Alert effective August 18, 2026 at 3:35 PM EDT and expires August 18, 2026 at 4:30 PM EDT.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Alerts
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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.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (1,248 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to August 18, 2026.
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Common questions about this NWS weather alert.