Special Marine Warning — Straits of Florida from Halfmoon Shoal to 20 NM west of Dry Tortugas out 20 NM; Straits of Florida from Halfmoon Shoal t was recorded by Global Incident Tracker on Sunday, 18 October 2026 at 08:21 UTC. The event is classified as a storm incident with a severity rating of Severe, and was detected through the US National Weather Service (NWS).
Special Marine Warning issued October 18 at 4:21AM EDT until October 18 at 4:45AM EDT by NWS Key West FL SMWKEY The National Weather Service in Key West has issued a * Special Marine Warning for... Straits of Florida from Halfmoon Shoal to 20 nm west of Dry Tortugas out 60 nm... * Until 445 AM EDT. * At 421 AM EDT, a strong thunderstorm with possible waterspouts was located 20 nm southeast of Tortugas Ecological Reserve South, moving south at 5 knots. HAZARD...Waterspouts and wind gusts 34 knots or greater. SOURCE...National Weather Service Meteorologist. IMPACT...Waterspouts can quickly form and capsize boats, cause considerable damage to vessels and create suddenly higher waves. Expect wind gusts in excess of 34 knots, suddenly higher waves, frequent lightning, and heavy downpours. * The strong thunderstorm will remain over mainly open waters.
Where this happened
The incident is located in United States (North America), whose capital is Washington, D.C.. Historically, United States is most affected by hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods. You can follow every incident recorded in this country, updated live, on the United States incident tracker.
Approximate coordinates of the reported event are 24.234°, -82.812°. The marker on the map above shows this position; for news-derived reports the location reflects the place named in media coverage and may represent a district or city rather than an exact site.
Understanding storm events
Severe thunderstorms, windstorms, hail and winter storms. Severe storms combine wind, lightning, hail and sudden downpours. Secondary effects — falling trees, power line damage and flash flooding on roads — cause the majority of injuries.
How severity is rated
Global Incident Tracker rates every event on a four-step scale — Minor, Moderate, Severe and Extreme — derived from the source signal: earthquake magnitude, official GDACS alert colour, or the volume of independent media reporting for news-derived incidents. This event is currently rated Severe. Ratings can change as more information becomes available, and a rating is a monitoring signal rather than an official government assessment.
Safety guidance for storm situations
- Move indoors and away from windows; avoid sheltering under trees.
- Unplug sensitive electronics and avoid using wired equipment during lightning.
- Assume every downed power line is live and keep well clear.
- Do not drive through flooded underpasses.
- Follow only official instructions from local authorities and emergency services — this page is a monitoring record, not an emergency alert.
Data and verification
This record was generated automatically from the US National Weather Service (NWS) and de-duplicated against our archive. Early reports for any incident can be revised: locations get refined, magnitudes are recalculated and impact figures change as assessments arrive. We deliberately do not publish casualty numbers unless an official source states them. The original source report is linked at the top of this page.
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Timeline and sources
Official warning
Issued by U.S. National Weather Service. A warning or forecast describes a hazard; on its own it is not a report that harm occurred.
How statuses are decided · the number of reports is never treated as confirmation.
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· received · event time 18 Oct 2026, 08:21 UTCFirst report Official warning
First recorded from U.S. National Weather Service.
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· received · event time 18 Oct 2026, 08:38 UTCAlso reported Official warning
Also reported by U.S. National Weather Service: "Special Marine Warning — Straits of Florida from Halfmoon Shoal to 20 NM west of Dry Tortugas out 20 NM; Straits of Florida from Halfmoon Shoal t"
Times are when this site received each report, in UTC; the event time is shown where the source gave one. 2 reports are attached to this incident. Copies of one syndicated story count as one report.
Conditions at the time
5.8 mm of rain fell that day, and the temperature peaked at 28°C, and winds reached 50 km/h. Conditions are shown for context only — they do not establish a cause.
Weather reanalysis for this location and date via Open-Meteo.