Special Marine Warning Issued for Chesapeake Bay and James River

Source: NOAA · Chesapeake Bay VA

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on July 10, 2026, 6 weeks 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 Wakefield VA issued a Special Marine Warning for Chesapeake Bay zones and James River until 9:15 PM EDT due to a strong thunderstorm with 40 knot wind gusts.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Special Marine Warning
Affected area
Chesapeake Bay VA
Issued
July 10, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Wakefield VA

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 6 weeks ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Chesapeake Bay VA.

Alert Details

A Special Marine Warning was issued by the National Weather Service in Wakefield VA. The alert is effective from June 12, 2026 at 8:20 PM EDT until June 12, 2026 at 9:15 PM EDT.

Affected Areas

Chesapeake Bay from New Point Comfort to Little Creek VA; Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel; James River from JRB to HRBT, Including the Elizabeth River.

What You Should Do

Move to safe harbor until hazardous weather passes.

Expected Conditions

At 8:19 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located over Sewells Point, moving east at 20 knots. Hazard includes wind gusts to 40 knots. Small craft could be damaged in briefly higher winds and suddenly higher waves.

Timeline

The warning is in effect from June 12, 2026 at 8:20 PM EDT and expires June 12, 2026 at 9:15 PM 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 Wakefield VA issued a Special Marine Warning for Chesapeake Bay zones and James River until 9:15 PM EDT due to a strong thunderstorm with 40 knot wind gusts.
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 Chesapeake Bay VA. 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.