Special Marine Warning Issued for Chesapeake Bay Areas

Source: NOAA · Chesapeake Bay, Maryland/Virginia

This alert is no longer in effect.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 Baltimore MD/Washington DC has issued a Special Marine Warning for Chesapeake Bay from Drum Point MD to Smith Point VA and Tangier Sound until 10:45 PM EDT.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Special Marine Warning
Affected area
Chesapeake Bay, Maryland/Virginia
Issued
August 18, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Baltimore MD/Washington DC

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 Chesapeake Bay, Maryland/Virginia.

Alert Details

Special Marine Warning issued by NWS Baltimore MD/Washington DC. Effective from August 17, 2026 at 10:12 PM EDT until August 17, 2026 at 10:45 PM EDT.

Affected Areas

Chesapeake Bay from Drum Point MD to Smith Point VA; Tangier Sound and the inland waters surrounding Bloodsworth Island. Locations impacted include Ewell, Tangier Sound, Smith Island, Southwest Middle Grounds, Deal Island, and Crisfield.

What You Should Do

Move to safe harbor until hazardous weather passes.

Expected Conditions

Strong thunderstorms located along a line extending from Raccoon Point to near Smith Island to near Smith Point, moving southeast at 30 knots. Hazard includes wind gusts 34 knots or greater.

Timeline

Alert in effect from 10:12 PM EDT to 10:45 PM EDT on August 17, 2026.

Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗

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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 Baltimore MD/Washington DC has issued a Special Marine Warning for Chesapeake Bay from Drum Point MD to Smith Point VA and Tangier Sound until 10:45 PM EDT.
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, Maryland/Virginia. 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.