Harbormaster Day is October 8th – US Harbors Newsletter
Harbormaster Day – October 8th
Thursday, October 8, is National Harbormaster Appreciation Day. When a storm like this recent nor’easter comes through, harbormasters are the ones checking moorings before it arrives, answering calls while it’s here, and sorting out the damage once it’s gone. Most of them won’t ask for thanks. So this October, stop by your harbormaster’s office, or send a note, and share a story about your harbormaster. They’ve earned it.
— Jamie and the US Harbors Crew
| | Hello, Ask any harbormaster and they’ll tell you a storm plan has three distinct phases: preparation, adaptation, and restoration. Making proper preparations while a storm is days away is essential to minimizing damage, but adapting to a changing storm track can be even more important — it’s that resiliency that gets mariners back on course. And swiftly restoring any damaged infrastructure or equipment is what differentiates a major disaster from a minor inconvenience.
These three phases were on full display over the weekend of September 25–27, when a rare early-season nor’easter swept up the East Coast and impacted harbors across the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England. US Harbors was there through the storm providing boaters and other coastal residents with the data and resources necessary for managing each of the storm’s three phases. Whether it was NOAA’s marine and onshore forecasts critical for developing a storm plan or the real-time buoy reports that showed those in the path of the storm how reality lined up with the predictions, the data on our coastal intelligence platform helped people make sound decisions. And when the storm passed, the local business members on US Harbors helped get people back on track, whether they needed the nearest TraveLift for an emergency haul-out or a marine electrician to troubleshoot a soggy VHF. Walking on the Breakwater, Rockland, Maine with high winds and high tides
during the September 2026 nor’easter storm. Photo by Stacey Keefer |
In the Pacific, Hurricane Nolo passed south of Hawaii’s Big Island in late September, bringing heavy rain, high surf and wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph to parts of Maui, Hawaii and Honolulu counties. Nolo never made landfall, but schools and government offices closed on the Big Island and Maui, shelters opened, and flights were canceled at Hilo. The Hawaiian Islands often appear on our Monthly High Tide Flooding Outlook, where high tides and low elevation can mean frequent flooding. Knowing those dates ahead of time is part of being ready when a storm like Nolo approaches. Hurricane Nolo approaching Hawaii’s Big Island in late September, as seen on the advanced radar map launching later this year with US Harbors Membership. The shaded cone shows the storm’s projected path, and the highlighted areas show where watches and warnings were in effect. Weather map powered by Xweather. |
Send us a note and let us know how our data helped you, and tell us if there’s anything more we can add to our coastal intelligence platform to make it even better for all of us. Harbormaster Day – October 8th Thursday, October 8, is National Harbormaster Appreciation Day. When a storm like this recent nor’easter comes through, harbormasters are the ones checking moorings before it arrives, answering calls while it’s here, and sorting out the damage once it’s gone. Most of them won’t ask for thanks. So this October, stop by your harbormaster’s office, or send a note, and share a story about your harbormaster. They’ve earned it. — Jamie and the US Harbors Crew | |
| | October High Tide Flooding Report: October 2026Seasonally higher sea levels carry into October, and this month higher tides can be expected around the new moon on October 10 and the full moon on the night of October 25–26. Expect the elevated water levels to persist for a day or two after each. The full moon window is the one to watch, with most harbors seeing their highest flood likelihood between October 26 and 29. Using the National Ocean Service’s minor flooding threshold, measured against the Mean Higher High Water datum, 43 harbors show some chance of flooding this month, up from 25 in September, and every coastal region in the outlook is represented. Twenty harbors reach a Medium Chance (a 20–60% likelihood), including most of the Mid-Atlantic coast. The Southeast, the upper Texas coast, Hawaii’s Big Island, and western Long Island Sound have the highest individual likelihoods, between 40 and 60% around the full moon. The rest of the Northeast and Gulf Coast see mostly a Slight Chance (5–20%), and the West Coast, quiet in September, has harbors on the list from Southern California to Washington.
We use the NOS minor threshold as our benchmark, as we have in previous reports, because its nationally consistent formula makes it the best basis for comparing flooding risk from one harbor to the next. Each harbor is rated by its highest daily flood likelihood for the month, using the National Ocean Service’s threshold levels: - Least Chance: below 5%
- Slight Chance: 5–20%
- Medium Chance: 20–60%
- Greatest Chance: over 60%
The report can also be generated using the NWS minor threshold, which local forecasters and emergency managers calibrate to reflect where flooding causes problems in a specific community. NWS minor is not available at every station.
NOAA predicts that flooding is either unlikely in other harbors, or else it does not have a sufficiently validated model to make an accurate prediction (or the local topography makes such a prediction impossible). | |
| | | | Newport is always a good idea, especially during Boat Show WeekThe Hood 42 LM took the top award, the Hunt 56 made her debut, and we caught the sunset at Castle Hill. Here’s a look at our visit to this year’s Newport Boat Show..… |
| | 2026 Pacific Coral Surveys Interactive StoryNOAA scientists returned from American Samoa and the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument after conducting coral reef monitoring surveys. Check out their interactive story… |
| | A Hurricane Season Without Hurricanes, So FarFor the first time since 1914, the Atlantic reached September 21 without a hurricane… |
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Photo credits (top to bottom): Rockland Breakwater, Maine during the September 2026 nor’easter storm. Photos (2) by Stacey Keefer; Palm Beach Yachts display at the 2026 Newport International Boat Show, Photo by Jamie Bloomquist, US Harbors; A scientist capturing digital images to build a 3D reef model. Credit: NOAA Fisheries; A map of the Atlantic Ocean and East Coast of the USA showing no hurricanes by September 21, 2026. Digital illustration created by US Harbors using Claude AI and NOAA hurricane data; Yellowfin tuna are more commonly seen and caught off California during El Niño periods. Credit: Shutterstock |
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