Special Marine Warning Issued for Gulf of America and Straits of Florida

Source: NOAA · Gulf of America and Straits of Florida

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on August 4, 2026, 2 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 Key West has issued a Special Marine Warning for multiple marine zones in the Gulf of America and Straits of Florida due to a strong thunderstorm producing wind gusts of 34 knots or greater.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Special Marine Warning
Affected area
Gulf of America and Straits of Florida
Issued
August 4, 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 2 weeks ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Gulf of America and Straits of Florida.

Alert Details

A Special Marine Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service Key West FL. The alert is effective from 9:39 PM EDT on August 3, 2026, until 10:45 PM EDT on August 3, 2026.

Affected Areas

The warning covers Hawk Channel and Straits of Florida from west end of Seven Mile Bridge to 20 nm west of Dry Tortugas out 20 nm; Gulf of America from west end of Seven Mile Bridge to Halfmoon Shoal out to 5 fathoms; Gulf of America including Dry Tortugas and Rebecca Shoal Channel.

What You Should Do

Prepare for wind gusts in excess of 34 knots, steep and fast-building seas, frequent lightning, and blinding downpours. Stay low or go below, and make sure all on board are wearing life jackets. Intense and continuous lightning is occurring with this storm. Stay low, or go below. Lower VHF antenna, outriggers, fishing rods, and umbrellas.

Expected Conditions

At 9:39 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located over Twenty-Eight Foot Shoal Light and was nearly stationary. Hazard includes wind gusts 34 knots or greater. Expect wind gusts in excess of 34 knots, suddenly higher waves, frequent lightning, and heavy downpours.

Timeline

The alert is in effect from 9:39 PM EDT until 10:45 PM EDT on August 3, 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 Key West has issued a Special Marine Warning for multiple marine zones in the Gulf of America and Straits of Florida due to a strong thunderstorm producing wind gusts of 34 knots or greater.
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 Gulf of America and Straits of Florida. 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.