🌊 US Weather Warriors MarineCast — Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Small Craft Advisories blanket the Delmarva marine zones with SW winds gusting 30 kt and offshore seas building to 10 ft.
Today on the Water: SCAs are up across the Atlantic coastal waters, Delaware Bay, and nearly every Chesapeake zone from the head of the Bay down to New Point Comfort. SW winds 20-25 kt with gusts to 30 kt, showers and embedded thunderstorms, and offshore seas 6-7 ft occasionally to 10. Radar shows a line of strong cells 24-33 nm off Chincoteague and Cape Charles, several tagged 52-56 dBZ with hail probability and a mesocyclone signature — all moving WSW toward the coast. Lightning risk is real over the open Atlantic and nearshore.
Atlantic Coastal Waters (Lewes → southern VA coast): SW 20-25 kt, gusts 30, diminishing to 15-20 kt late. Seas 6-7 ft, occasionally 10. Showers early and again late morning into afternoon. Offshore convection is moving onshore — expect conditions to deteriorate before they improve.
Delaware Bay: SW 15-20 kt, gusts 25, easing to around 10 kt with gusts to 20 this afternoon. Seas 2-4 ft on a mixed SW 3 ft @ 4 sec and SE 3 ft @ 8 sec. Slight chance of showers early, better chance of showers and storms this afternoon.
Chesapeake Bay & Delmarva-facing Waters: SW 20-25 kt with gusts to 30, diminishing to 10-15 kt with gusts to 20 later. Waves running SW 3 ft @ 4 sec, SE 2 ft @ 7 sec. Showers throughout. LWX notes portions of the SCA may cancel early if earlier storms stabilized the atmosphere, but advisory conditions continue into the day for wider waters.
Wind & Seas Outlook: Peak winds and seas are today. Conditions ease overnight; lightest wind arrives Saturday night into Sunday with NE 5 kt and seas around 3 ft or less.
Marine Alerts:
- Small Craft Advisory — Atlantic coastal waters Fenwick Island to VA/NC border, until 6:00 PM EDT today
- Small Craft Advisory — Delaware Bay, until 6:00 AM EDT today
- Small Craft Advisory — Upper/Middle Chesapeake zones, until 12:00-1:00 PM EDT today; lower Bay zones until 6:00 PM EDT, some extending to 8-11 AM Thursday
- Flash Flood Warning — Somerset & Worcester MD, Accomack VA, until 5:15 AM EDT
- Flood Watch — Lower Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads areas, through this afternoon/evening
Best Window to be Out: Late afternoon into evening on the Bay once winds drop to 10-15 kt — but only if the afternoon thunderstorm line has cleared your zone. Watch radar before leaving the dock.
Worst Window: This morning through early afternoon, when SW gusts hit 30 kt and offshore cells push toward the coast with lightning and hail.
Bottom Line: Stay in today — this is an SCA day with thunderstorms in the mix, and the Atlantic is flat-out dangerous for small craft.
— US Weather Warriors #DelmarvaWeather #MarineWeather #BoatingWeather