Offshore Gale Warnings cleared Monday from mid-Atlantic and Georges Bank; Tuesday through Thursday is the confirmed departure window
Updated October 13: Tuesday-through-Thursday window confirmed open. Tonight seas 5 to 9 feet on Sandy Hook to 37.5N, declining through the week. Second cold front now showing more severe Saturday conditions in the overnight NWS Philadelphia package: Friday night 25 to 35 knots with seas 7 to 11 feet; Saturday builds to 9 to 14 feet on Sandy Hook to 37.5N and 9 to 13 feet on 37.5N to Cape Hatteras. Georges Bank Saturday: NW 35 to 40 knots, seas 11 to 13 feet. The departure gap is Tuesday October 13 through Thursday October 15. Check marine.weather.gov and ocean.weather.gov/shtml/NFDOFFNT1.php before any departure. Prior: Updated October 12 at 12:18 PM EDT: Offshore Gale Warnings have cleared from the mid-Atlantic corridor (Sandy Hook to Cape Hatteras) and Georges Bank. Seas remain 8 to 11 feet Monday on both corridors as post-storm swell moderates. NWS Philadelphia projects conditions dropping to 5 to 20 knots with seas 3 to 6 feet Tuesday through Thursday; NWS Boston shows similar easing on Georges Bank, with seas falling to 3 to 8 feet. A strong cold front approaches Friday night with gale-force wind potential on both corridors and seas building to 8 to 11 feet on Georges Bank. Tuesday through Thursday is the confirmed departure window. Prior: NWS offshore forecasts issued Sunday evening showed active Gale Warnings for the Mid-Atlantic offshore corridor from Sandy Hook to Cape Hatteras and for Georges Bank east of 68W, with 25 to 35 knots and seas 7 to 13 feet through Monday. Conditions moderate Tuesday through Thursday. A second system was forecast to build Friday night, returning the Mid-Atlantic offshore zones to 25 to 35 knots with seas 7 to 14 feet and pushing Georges Bank to 30 to 45 knots with seas 8 to 14 feet. Tuesday through Thursday is the forecast viable window for offshore departures.
Update, Tuesday October 13: The Tuesday-through-Thursday departure window is now confirmed open. The NWS Philadelphia offshore forecast package issued late Monday, October 12, shows no active warnings on the mid-Atlantic corridor. Tonight, Sandy Hook to 37.5N is running northwest 10 to 20 knots with seas 5 to 9 feet — elevated residual swell but well below the gale threshold and declining through the week. Conditions on both the Sandy Hook to 37.5N and 37.5N to Cape Hatteras zones are projected to ease to 3 to 6 foot seas Wednesday and Thursday. The confirmed departure gap is Tuesday October 13 through Thursday October 15. The overnight NWS Philadelphia package shows a more severe second system than the prior forecast. Friday night: Sandy Hook to 37.5N at northwest 25 to 35 knots with seas 7 to 11 feet; 37.5N to Cape Hatteras at northwest 25 to 35 knots with seas 6 to 10 feet; Cape Hatteras to Murrells Inlet at north to northwest 20 to 30 knots with seas 5 to 9 feet. Saturday: Sandy Hook to 37.5N at northwest 25 to 35 knots with seas 9 to 14 feet; 37.5N to Cape Hatteras at north 25 to 35 knots with seas 9 to 13 feet; Cape Hatteras to Murrells Inlet at north 25 to 35 knots with seas 8 to 12 feet. NWS Philadelphia notes gale force winds possible Friday night on the northern zones. On the New England offshore corridor, the NWS Boston overnight package now shows Saturday conditions on Georges Bank east of 68W at northwest 35 to 40 knots with seas 11 to 13 feet — materially worse than the 8 to 11 feet in the prior forecast. South of New England and Long Island Saturday shows 30 to 40 knots with seas 10 to 12 feet. Friday evening and the full weekend are closed windows on both corridors. The Thursday afternoon NWS packages on October 15 at marine.weather.gov and ocean.weather.gov/shtml/NFDOFFNT1.php are the pre-commitment check before any Friday departure. NWS products are the pre-launch check.
Update, Monday October 12 at 12:18 PM EDT: Offshore Gale Warnings have cleared from the mid-Atlantic corridor. NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly NJ offshore forecasts show no active Gale Warnings as of Monday midday. Conditions on the Sandy Hook to 37.5N and 37.5N to Cape Hatteras zones are running west to northwest 20 to 30 knots with seas 8 to 11 feet, elevated from post-storm residual swell but below the gale threshold. The forecast eases into Tuesday, with 5 to 20 knots and seas 3 to 6 feet projected on the mid-Atlantic 20-to-60 NM corridor through Thursday. On Georges Bank east of 68W, NWS Boston/Norton MA offshore forecasts show seas of 7 to 11 feet today, moderating to 3 to 8 feet Tuesday through Thursday. The Tuesday-to-Thursday window is now confirmed by the midday packages on both corridors. The second system is now forecast as a strong cold front approaching Friday night. NWS Philadelphia notes gale-force wind potential Friday night on the mid-Atlantic offshore corridor. NWS Boston projects seas building to 8 to 11 feet on Georges Bank east of 68W Friday night through Saturday. The Thursday afternoon NWS offshore packages are the pre-commitment check before any Friday or Saturday offshore departure. NWS Philadelphia offshore products are at marine.weather.gov; NWS Boston offshore products are at ocean.weather.gov/shtml/NFDOFFNT1.php. NWS products are the pre-launch check.
The offshore corridor from Sandy Hook NJ south to Cape Hatteras NC remains under active Gale Warnings as of Sunday evening. NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly NJ offshore forecast packages issued Sunday show Gale Warnings for the 20-to-60 nautical mile zones: Sandy Hook to 37.5N and 37.5N to Cape Hatteras, with sustained winds 25 to 35 knots and seas 7 to 13 feet through Sunday night into Monday. Cape Hatteras south to Murrells Inlet SC carries 20 to 30 knots and seas 6 to 10 feet. These are the offshore zones used by party boats working Hudson Canyon, Baltimore Canyon, Washington Canyon, and the Hatteras offshore corridor. The Columbus Day storm has moved through, but residual energy holds gale-force conditions in the offshore zones after inshore advisory products step down. The zone text at marine.weather.gov, not an advisory header, is the specific pre-departure check.
On Georges Bank, NWS Boston/Norton MA offshore forecasts show a Gale Warning for the Georges Bank zone east of 68W through the Hague Line, with 25 to 35 knots and seas 7 to 11 feet Sunday night. The Georges Bank zone between Cape Cod and 68W carries elevated conditions as well; anglers planning any Georges Bank or Stellwagen Bank transit should check current zone status at weather.gov/box before any departure. Conditions on the offshore New England zones moderate through Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping to 15 to 25 knots with seas 4 to 8 feet on some northern zones and 5 to 10 feet on the mid New England corridor.
Conditions across the Mid-Atlantic and New England offshore corridor are forecast to ease through Tuesday and persist in a viable range Wednesday and Thursday. The NWS Mid-Atlantic offshore zones project 5 to 20 knots with seas 3 to 6 feet through the Tuesday-to-Thursday period. This is the window: the first realistic opportunity for offshore departures from Point Pleasant Beach, Montauk, and southern New England ports after the Columbus Day event. Inlet bar conditions at Oregon Inlet, Barnegat Inlet, Manasquan Inlet, and the major offshore access points may differ from the offshore zone forecast after a major storm. A marina check or USACE dredging notice for the specific inlet bar is the right call before any first post-storm departure; the offshore zone forecast does not describe bar crossing conditions.
A second system builds Friday night, October 16. NWS Philadelphia offshore forecasts project 25 to 35 knots and seas 7 to 14 feet returning to the Mid-Atlantic 20-to-60 NM corridor Friday night. On Georges Bank, the NWS Boston offshore forecast shows 30 to 45 knots and seas 8 to 14 feet Friday night on the Georges Bank east-of-68W zone. Anglers planning a weekend offshore trip from any mid-Atlantic or New England port should treat the Friday evening and weekend offshore window as closed until the zone text confirms otherwise. The Tuesday-to-Thursday window is the forecast gap between the two systems. Conditions can change before Friday; the afternoon NWS offshore package on Thursday October 15 is the check before any Friday or Saturday offshore commitment. NWS Philadelphia offshore products are at marine.weather.gov; NWS Boston offshore products are at ocean.weather.gov/shtml/NFDOFFNT1.php. NWS products are the pre-launch check.
On the water: Rules and conditions can change quickly. Confirm current regulations and official marine forecasts for your exact trip.