Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas in effect until late Thursday afternoon

    A Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas is in effect for the entire New Jersey coastline until 6 p.m. Thursday, according to a bulletin from the National Weather Service.

    The advisory covers coastal waters out 20 nautical miles from Sandy Hook to Cape May. 

    Mariners should be prepared for south winds at 5 to 15 knots Wednesday afternoon and evening, becoming northwest at 10 to 15 knots late Wednesday into Thursday, the bulletin says. 

    Seas are running between four and seven feet, and the swells will increase to a period of 12 to 16 seconds.

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    “A Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas means that waves are expected to be hazardous to small craft. Mariners should avoid shoaling areas. Long period swells can sharpen into large breaking waves in shoaling areas. It is not unusual for waves to break much farther from shoaling areas than normal. Remember, breaking waves can easily capsize even a large vessel,” the bulletin warns. 

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