Special Marine Warning Issued for Florida Bay and Surrounding Waters
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on May 14, 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 areas including Florida Bay and Hawk Channel, with strong thunderstorms bringing wind gusts up to 34 knots and small hail, effective until 3:30 AM EDT on May 5, 2026.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Florida Keys and Surrounding Waters
- Issued
- May 14, 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 Florida Keys and Surrounding Waters.
Special Marine Warning in Florida Waters
Alert Details
This Special Marine Warning was issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) Key West FL. It is effective from 2:33 AM EDT on May 5, 2026.
Affected Areas
The warning affects Florida Bay including Barnes Sound, Blackwater Sound, and Buttonwood Sound; Bayside and Gulfside from Craig Key to West End of Seven Mile Bridge; Hawk Channel from Ocean Reef to Craig Key out to the reef; Hawk Channel from Craig Key to west end of Seven Mile Bridge out to the reef; Straits of Florida from Ocean Reef to Craig Key out 20 NM. Specific locations include Whale Harbor, Islamorada Hump, Twin Keys, Steam Boat Channel, Cotton Key, Alligator Reef Light, and Hens & Chickens Light.
What You Should Do
Boaters should seek safe harbor as quickly and as safely as possible. When downpours reduce visibility, slow down.
Expected Conditions
Expect wind gusts in excess of 34 knots, suddenly higher waves, frequent lightning, and heavy downpours. A strong thunderstorm is moving east at 15 knots.
Timeline
The alert is effective from 2:33 AM EDT on May 5, 2026, and expires at 3:30 AM 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 (1,160 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to May 14, 2026.
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Common questions about this NWS weather alert.