Special Marine Warning Issued for Lake Michigan Areas from Winthrop Harbor to Michigan City
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on April 25, 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.
The National Weather Service has issued a Special Marine Warning for parts of Lake Michigan, including areas from Winthrop Harbor to Michigan City, due to severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts and wind gusts over 65 knots.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Special Marine Warning
- Affected area
- Lake Michigan Region
- Issued
- April 25, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Chicago IL
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 Lake Michigan Region.
Special Marine Warning Alert
Alert Details
This Special Marine Warning was issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) Chicago IL. It is effective from 8:06 PM CDT on April 17, 2026, until 10:00 PM CDT on the same day.
Affected Areas
The warning affects the following regions: Winthrop Harbor to Wilmette Harbor IL; Wilmette Harbor to Northerly Island IL; Lake Michigan from Winthrop Harbor to Wilmette Harbor IL 5NM offshore to Mid Lake; and Lake Michigan from Wilmette Harbor to Michigan City in 5NM offshore to Mid Lake. Specific locations include Harrison-Dever Crib, Wilmette Harbor, Winthrop Harbor, Montrose Harbor, Monroe Harbor, Waukegan Harbor, Belmont Harbor, Diversy Harbor, and DuSable Harbor.
What You Should Do
Move to safe harbor immediately due to gusty winds and high waves. Seek safe harbor immediately as waterspouts can easily overturn boats and create locally hazardous seas.
Expected Conditions
Severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts and wind gusts in excess of 65 knots are expected.
Timeline
The alert is effective from 8:06 PM CDT on April 17, 2026, and expires at 10:00 PM CDT on April 17, 2026.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Alerts
All Weather Alerts →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.
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 April 25, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this NWS weather alert.