Marine Zone Expansion

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Boston/Norton National Weather Service
Marine Zone Expansion to 60 NM Offshore

OVERVIEW

Beginning on or about March 3, 2026, National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office (WFO) Boston/Norton, MA (BOX) will assume forecast, watch, and warning responsibility for the coastal waters from The Merrimack River, MA south to Natucket, MA and west to Montauk, NY from 20 to 60 Nautical Miles (NM) offshore. Routine forecast services for these waters were previously the responsibility of the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), with warning responsibility divided between WFO BOX and OPC. This change is part of a regional improvement that will result in all forecasts and warnings for coastal waterways within 60 NM of shore originating from the local WFO across the entire Contiguous United States (CONUS). There will be no change to the current forecast and warning services provided by WFO BOX for coastal waterways within 20 NM of shore.

JUSTIFICATION

The coastal waterways are lifelines of commerce in northern New England, frequented by commercial, recreational, and research vessels year-round. Additionally, fishermen often leave local ports bound for offshore fishing sites. These activities primarily take place within 60 NM of shore, with mariners depending on reliable weather forecasts from the National Weather Service to ensure the safety of themselves and their crew, passengers, and cargo while on the water.

With the redesignation of all forecast and warning responsibility for the coastal waters within 60 NM of shore to the local WFO, users will experience these benefits:

Improved forecast service continuity, with local WFO’s now responsible for issuing routine forecasts and warnings for all marine waters out to 60 NM offshore for the entire CONUS.
Increased number of forecast parameters with temperature, precipitation chances, and weather type among the parameters that are now available for mariners from 20 to 60 NM offshore out to 5 days in the future.
Improved forecast resolution, with point and click forecast capability now enabling mariners to get precise hourly forecasts for specific points (specific fishing location) anywhere within 60 NM of shore out to 5 days in the future.
Expanded suite of short and long-fused watch & warning products to alert mariners to the potential for a variety of hazardous weather conditions.
WFO’s now have the capability to deliver Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS) to partners in support of incident response for incidents that occur anywhere within 60 NM of shore. This includes SPOT weather forecasts for ongoing marine incidents.

ZONE CHANGE DESCRIPTIONS

The areal extent of the new marine zones was largely established by maintaining the current location and orientation of the along-coast zone breaks for the nearshore marine zones and extending them to meet a line which runs approximately 60 NM off the coast. The following graphics and table illustrate the new area covered by these zones.

The above graphic shows the previous alignment of marine zones with blue zones being the responsibility of the local WFO.

The above graphic shows the new alignment of marine forecast zones with light and dark blue zones now being the responsibility of the local WFO. All coastal waters to 60 NM offshore from The Merrimack River, MA south to Natucket, MA and west to Montauk, NY will now receive forecasts and warnings from NWS BOX.

FORECAST RESOURCES

WFO BOX's products affected by these changes are listed in the table below:

Product Name	WMO Header	AWIPS ID
Coastal Waters Forecast	FZUS51	CWFBOX
Marine Weather Message	WHUS71	MWWBOX
Special Marine Warning	WHUS51	SMWBOX
Marine Weather Statement	FZUS71	MWSBOX
Watch County Notification	WWUS61	WCNBOX

Marine users have several options for directly receiving official National Weather Service forecasts and warnings:

NOAA Weather Radio

One of the most immediate and reliable ways to receive forecasts, watches, and warnings for the Gulf of Maine is through NOAA Weather Radio. The following table and map outline the best transmitter for coastal water areas:

Online

Routine forecasts and warnings for mariners in Massachusetts and Rhode Island waters can be found online at Coastal Marine Forecasts by Zone - Boston, MA.

Alternatively, to get the forecast for a specific point, visit weather.gov/marine/point and click on the map or enter you lat/lon.

Email

You can subscribe to receive marine forecasts/warnings vis the NWS FTP Email option. For details on this service, visit https://www.weather.gov/marine/faq#3.

CONTACT

Please submit any questions or comments to:

Frank Nocera
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
National Weather Service
Boston/Norton, MA
508 622 3250 x223
frank.nocera@noaa.gov

CLICK HERE FOR THE OFFICIAL SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE (not available yet)

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