Special Marine Warning Issued for Coastal Georgia Waters and Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on April 6, 2026, 4 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 is in effect until 11:00 AM EDT for coastal waters between Savannah and Altamaha Sound as a strong thunderstorm moves through the area.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Coastal Georgia
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Charleston SC
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 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Coastal Georgia.
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Charleston has issued a Special Marine Warning for coastal waters in Georgia. The alert was issued at 10:05 AM EDT on March 12, 2026, following the detection of a strong thunderstorm in the region.
Affected Areas
The warning covers coastal waters from Savannah, GA, to Altamaha Sound, GA, extending out to 20 nautical miles. This area includes the Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Specific locations impacted include:
- K T K Buoy
- Steel Barge Modena
- Buoy B H
- Sapelo Channelbuoy 3 and Sapelo Buoy S
- Buoy B L
- C A T Buoy
- St Catherines Buoy 3 and Saint Catherines Sound
- Grays Reef Buoy
- Doboy Sound Buoy D
- D R H Buoy
- A L T Buoy
- John Bird
- Tug Rio Apon
What You Should Do
Boaters and those on the water are advised to move to safe harbor immediately until the hazardous weather passes. The National Weather Service recommends avoiding these waters during the warning period to prevent damage to vessels.
Expected Conditions
At 10:05 AM EDT, radar indicated a strong thunderstorm near Altamaha Sound, moving east at 35 knots. The primary hazard identified is wind gusts reaching up to 34 knots. These conditions are expected to cause suddenly higher waves and could potentially damage small craft.
Timeline
The Special Marine Warning is effective immediately as of 10:05 AM EDT and is scheduled to expire at 11:00 AM EDT on March 12, 2026.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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