Boating Hazards

Boating Hazards (High Winds/Seas)

RISK LEVEL	HAZARD DESCRIPTION
Low	Small craft should exercise caution. Sustained winds of 20 to 24 kt are expected, with seas on the coastal waters of 5 feet.
Moderate	Small craft advisory conditions with winds 25 to 33 kt expected, and seas on the coastal waters of 6 feet or higher..
High	Gales or even storm force winds are expected, with winds 34 kt or greater, and very high seas on the coastal waters.

The existing NWS WFO Newport/Morehead City Graphical Hazards have been discontinued due to technical issues. A new version of these hazards graphics is under development and will be implemented once it has passed an internal testing period. This will hopefully come in 2016, but we cannot estimate when at this time. We regret the inconvenience and hope you found the previous version of this webpage and graphics useful. We hope you will find the new version of this webpage just as useful when it comes online.

General Information

Boating conditions are entirely dependent on wind/wave action. Waves heights are dependent on the strength of the wind, the duration of time the winds blow, and the amount of open water (fetch) that the wind is blowing across. As winds increase to 20 kt, and seas to 5 feet, boat handling will begin to become difficult. Only more experienced mariners should be on the water in these conditions. Once winds increas over 25 kt, with seas of 6 feet or higher, handling small boats will become very difficult, and all mariners are urged to remain in port.

For additional information visit:

The Ocean Prediction Center

Send e-mail with your comments and suggestions to John Cole.

Updated 4/19/2015