Small craft advisory for Tampa Bay waters runs until 8 a.m. Thursday
Northeast winds of 20 to 25 knots keep boating hazardous; on land, Tampa stays breezy with a high near 84 and isolated showers tonight.
TAMPA - A small craft advisory for Tampa Bay waters is in effect until 8 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service office in Ruskin said in a marine weather message early Wednesday.
Forecasters expect northeast winds of 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots and seas of 4 to 7 feet. Besides Tampa Bay, the advisory covers Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound and Gulf waters from Bonita Beach to the Suwannee River out to 60 nautical miles. The weather service said conditions will be hazardous to small craft and urged inexperienced mariners in smaller vessels to avoid navigating.
On land, this afternoon is expected to be mostly sunny and breezy with a high near 84 and a northeast wind around 16 mph, gusting as high as 26 mph. Tonight brings isolated showers before 3 a.m. and again after 5 a.m. under mostly cloudy skies, with a low around 72.
Thursday is forecast to be partly sunny with a high near 86 and a 20% chance of rain, with isolated showers before 7 a.m. and a slight chance after 2 p.m. Winds gust as high as 18 mph. Friday looks mostly sunny with a high near 86 and a 20% chance of showers after 2 p.m.
The weather service's Tampa forecast page showed no land alerts as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Source: National Weather Service Tampa Bay marine weather message (issued 12:50 a.m. Oct. 28, 2026) and the NWS point forecast for Tampa (Last Update 2:41 a.m. Oct. 28, 2026, opened about 1:30 p.m.).