Special Marine Warning Issued for NC Sounds and Coastal Waters

Source: NOAA · North Carolina Coastal Waters

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on August 10, 2026, 13 days 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 Newport/Morehead City has issued a Special Marine Warning for Pamlico Sound, Croatan and Roanoke Sounds, and adjacent coastal waters until 2:30 PM EDT due to a strong thunderstorm.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Special Marine Warning
Affected area
North Carolina Coastal Waters
Issued
August 10, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Newport/Morehead City NC

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 13 days ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in North Carolina Coastal Waters.

Alert Details

A Special Marine Warning was issued by the National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead City NC at 1:37 PM EDT on August 10, 2026. The alert is effective immediately and expires at 2:30 PM EDT on August 10, 2026.

Affected Areas

The warning covers Croatan and Roanoke Sounds, Pamlico Sound, waters south of Currituck Beach Light NC to Oregon Inlet NC out to 20 NM, and waters south of Oregon Inlet NC to Cape Hatteras NC out to 20 NM. Locations impacted include Ar145, Ar160, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon Inlet, and Rodanthe.

What You Should Do

Move to safe harbor until hazardous weather passes. Frequent lightning is occurring with this storm. If caught on the open water, stay below deck if possible and keep away from ungrounded metal objects.

Expected Conditions

At 1:37 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located near Oregon Inlet moving northeast at 10 knots. Hazard includes wind gusts of 34 knots or greater. Small craft could be damaged in briefly higher winds and suddenly higher waves. Source is radar.

Timeline

The alert is in effect from 1:37 PM EDT until 2:30 PM EDT on August 10, 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 Newport/Morehead City has issued a Special Marine Warning for Pamlico Sound, Croatan and Roanoke Sounds, and adjacent coastal waters until 2:30 PM EDT due to a strong thunderstorm.
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 North Carolina Coastal Waters. 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.