Special Marine Warning for Coastal Waters off NC and SC
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NWS Wilmington NC has issued a Special Marine Warning for coastal waters from Surf City NC to South Santee River SC due to severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts.
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- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Coastal waters off North Carolina and South Carolina
- Issued
- August 25, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Wilmington NC
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 Wilmington NC. Effective from August 24, 2026 at 11:12 PM EDT until August 25 at 1:15 AM EDT.
Affected Areas
Coastal waters from Little River Inlet to Murrells Inlet SC out 20 NM; Coastal waters from Murrells Inlet to South Santee River SC out 20 NM; Waters from Surf City NC to Little River Inlet SC from 20 to 60 NM; Waters from Little River Inlet SC to South Santee River SC from 20 to 60 NM.
What You Should Do
Boaters should seek safe harbor immediately until these storms pass. If caught on the open water, prepare for deteriorating conditions. Make sure you and your crew are wearing properly fitted life jackets. Frequent lightning is occurring with these storms. If caught on the open water stay below deck if possible, keep away from ungrounded metal objects.
Expected Conditions
Severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts, wind gusts to 40 knots, and large hail. Storm moving southeast at 10 knots.
Timeline
Alert effective August 24, 2026 at 11:12 PM EDT and expires August 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM EDT.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Alerts
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.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (1,091 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to August 25, 2026.
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