🌊 US Weather Warriors MarineCast — Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Small Craft Advisories are up across Delaware Bay, the northern Chesapeake, and NJ coastal waters — southerly channeling is the story today.
Today on the Water: Multiple SCAs in effect. Southerly winds are pushing gusts to 25-30 kt in the Bay main channel this afternoon and evening. Radar shows a cluster of convective cells offshore near Dover moving NW/NNW — they're tracking toward the coast, not away. Lightning risk over open water where those cells are firing.
Atlantic Coastal Waters (Lewes → southern VA coast): S winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts to 25 kt, seas building to 3 to 4 ft tonight on a short 5-second period with a SE 2 ft at 8 sec swell underneath. Rough ride for smaller boats. Chance of showers.
Delaware Bay: S winds 10 to 15 kt today with seas 2 to 3 ft. Wave detail S 2 ft at 3 sec and SE 2 ft at 8 sec — steep, close-period chop. Cells near Dover are drifting NW onshore, so watch for storm cells reaching the Bay this morning.
Chesapeake Bay & Delmarva-facing Waters: S winds 15 kt with gusts to 20 kt, waves 2 to 3 ft. LWX marine discussion flags gusts of 25-30 kt in the main channel through this afternoon and evening from southerly channeling. Additional channeling likely Thursday into the weekend.
Wind & Seas Outlook: Peak wind and gusts overnight into Sunday night (S 15-20 kt, gusts 25 kt). Peak seas tonight at 3 to 4 ft on the Atlantic. Conditions ease Saturday.
Marine Alerts:
- Small Craft Advisory — NJ/DE coastal waters, until midnight Thursday
- Small Craft Advisory — Chesapeake Bay north of Pooles Island, until 11 PM tonight
- Small Craft Advisory — Chesapeake Bay Pooles Island to Drum Point corridor, until 2 AM Thursday
- Extreme Heat Warning — DE and MD Eastern Shore, through Saturday 8 PM
- Extreme Heat Watch — southeast VA and Hampton Roads, through Friday 8 PM
Best Window to be Out: Saturday is the clean day — W winds around 5 kt shifting S in the afternoon, seas 1-2 ft. Today's window is limited; if you must go, protected water before mid-morning before storm cells reach the coast.
Worst Window: This afternoon through Sunday night — Bay channel gusts 25-30 kt with steep short-period chop.
Bottom Line: Stay in or stick to protected water today — SCAs, channeling gusts, and onshore-moving storm cells make this a bad day to launch on open water.
— US Weather Warriors #DelmarvaWeather #MarineWeather #BoatingWeather