A changeable few days on the water as the big Atlantic storm slides east. Its influence fades slowly, but the leftover swell and an incoming occluded front will keep New England mariners on their toes through Monday.
High pressure wins the day. Light wind, often calm to 10 kt, seas 1-2 ft except 3-4 ft east of Nantucket and Chatham where the departing ocean swell lingers. A good day for harbor runs and near-shore fishing, but note the long-period swell from that offshore low.
South wind increases through the afternoon: 10-20 kt, occasional gusts 25-30 kt by late day, strongest south of the Cape and Islands. Mostly surface chop rather than true swell. Seas building 3-5 ft outer waters. Still fine early; plan returns by mid-afternoon if you’re in smaller craft.
This is the one. As a cold front overtakes a warm front, we call it an occluded front – drawn as a purple line on charts. It drives a southeast wind burst ahead of the boundary, then a southwest shift behind it.
Morning to midday: SE gusts 40–50 mph (35–45 kt) possible across the Gulf of Maine, Cape Ann to PTown to Wilkinson Basin.
Afternoon: Shift SW and ease 20–25 kt.
Seas build to 5–6 ft nearshore, 7–8 ft offshore.
Down east mariners – the blast arrives later in the day.
Wind relaxes, shifting variable 10 kt or less. Seas 3–5 ft and slowly subsiding.
Surface readings hover near 60°F in Nantucket Sound and the Great South Channel – still mild enough for that autumn chill when you haul lines.
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