Special Marine Warning Issued for Coastal Waters from Cape Mendocino to Point Arena
This alert is no longer in effect.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 2:45 AM PST for Northern California coastal waters as a severe thunderstorm capable of producing waterspouts moves through the region.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Northern California Coast
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Eureka CA
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 Northern California Coast.
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Eureka has issued a Special Marine Warning for coastal waters off Northern California. The alert was issued after radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing waterspouts and hazardous maritime conditions.
Affected Areas
The warning applies to the following geographic regions:
- Coastal waters from Cape Mendocino to Pt. Arena CA out 10 nm
- Waters from Cape Mendocino to Pt. Arena CA from 10 to 60 nm
Impacted locations include the open waters northwest of Fort Bragg and south of Cape Mendocino.
What You Should Do
Mariners are advised to move to safe harbor immediately until the hazardous weather passes. Thunderstorms can produce sudden waterspouts that can easily overturn boats and create locally hazardous seas. Small craft could be damaged in briefly higher winds and suddenly higher waves.
Expected Conditions
At 2:13 AM PST, a severe thunderstorm was located 45 nautical miles south of Cape Mendocino, or 37 nautical miles northwest of Fort Bragg, moving east at 45 knots.
- Hazards: Waterspouts and wind gusts to 34 knots.
- Hail: Potential for hail up to .75 inches.
- Impact: Potential for overturned vessels and damaged small craft due to sudden wind and wave increases.
Timeline
The alert is effective as of 2:13 AM PST and is currently set to expire at 2:45 AM PST on February 17, 2026.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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