Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for Gulf of America waters off Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle beginning early Tuesday morning, with the National Weather Service warning that southwest winds gusting as high as 55 mph and seas building to 16 feet could capsize or damage vessels through Wednesday afternoon.
Pensacola to Pascagoula: New Warning Issued Monday Afternoon
The NWS Mobile office issued a new Tropical Storm Warning at 3:57 PM CDT Monday for Gulf waters from Pensacola, Florida to Pascagoula, Mississippi, and from the Okaloosa-Walton County line to Pensacola, both 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore. Forecasters expect southwest winds of 30 to 40 knots with gusts up to 55 knots and seas of 10 to 15 feet, with tropical storm force winds possible from early Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon.
The office was blunt about the danger to boaters: tropical storm force winds and hazardous seas will capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility across the warned area.
Florida Panhandle Waters: Warning Remains in Effect
The NWS Tallahassee office is continuing a Tropical Storm Warning for waters from Mexico Beach to the Okaloosa-Walton County line, from Apalachicola to Mexico Beach, and from the Suwannee River to Apalachicola — all 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore. Conditions there call for southwest winds of 20 to 30 knots with gusts up to 45 knots and seas of 7 to 12 feet, with tropical storm force winds possible until early Wednesday morning. Mariners in these waters face the same capsizing and visibility hazards as those farther west.
Offshore Forecast: Seas Building to 16 Feet Tuesday Night
The National Hurricane Center‘s offshore waters forecast shows conditions deteriorating steadily through Tuesday. In the north-central Gulf, southwest to west winds are expected to reach 35 to 45 knots Tuesday night with seas of 10 to 15 feet. In the northeastern Gulf north of 26N and east of 87W, forecasters expect winds of 35 to 40 knots Tuesday night, becoming south to southwest 25 to 30 knots late, with seas building to 10 to 16 feet — the roughest conditions of the event. Numerous showers and scattered thunderstorms are expected to accompany the wind and seas through Wednesday.
Conditions are forecast to ease notably by Thursday, with winds dropping into the 10-to-20-knot range and seas falling to 5 to 7 feet as the system moves off, continuing to calm through the weekend.
What Mariners Should Do
The National Weather Service is urging anyone with plans on the water this week to change them. Mariners should alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions — remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, or secure the vessel for severe conditions before tropical storm force winds arrive early Tuesday morning. Boaters should monitor the latest marine forecasts at weather.gov/mob and weather.gov/tae.
