Special Marine Warning for Straits of Florida Areas
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on May 1, 2026, 3 months 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.
A Special Marine Warning has been issued by NWS Key West FL for parts of the Straits of Florida due to a strong thunderstorm with possible waterspouts and wind gusts over 34 knots, effective until 12:45 PM EDT on April 24, 2026.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Straits of Florida
- Issued
- May 1, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Key West 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 3 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Straits of Florida.
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Key West FL has issued a Special Marine Warning. This alert is categorized as 'Severe' and is an NWS alert type code MAW.
Affected Areas
The warning affects the Straits of Florida from Craig Key to west end of Seven Mile Bridge out 20 NM; Straits of Florida from west end of Seven Mile Bridge to south of Halfmoon Shoal out 20 NM; Straits of Florida from Craig Key to west end of Seven Mile Bridge 20 to 60 NM out; and Straits of Florida from west end of Seven Mile Bridge to south of Halfmoon Shoal 20 to 60 NM out.
What You Should Do
Prepare for wind gusts in excess of 34 knots, steep and fast-building seas, frequent lightning, and blinding downpours. Stay low or go below, and make sure all on board are wearing life jackets. Seek safe harbor immediately, as thunderstorms can produce sudden waterspouts that may overturn boats and create hazardous seas.
Expected Conditions
Hazards include waterspouts and wind gusts 34 knots or greater, suddenly higher waves, frequent lightning, and heavy downpours. The strong thunderstorm is nearly stationary and will remain over mainly open waters.
Timeline
The alert is effective from 12:15 PM EDT on April 24, 2026, until 12:45 PM EDT on the same day.
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 (1,263 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to May 1, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this NWS weather alert.