🔍 Key Concepts

• National Weather Service marine warnings categories such as small craft, gale, storm/whole gale, and hurricane • How marine warnings communicate hazard severity to mariners • Which forecast element (sea state, precipitation, clouds, or winds) is the primary basis for these warning levels

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: What is the main physical condition that defines the difference between a small craft advisory, a gale warning, and a hurricane warning? • Think about which of the listed factors (waves, rain, clouds, or winds) is most consistently measured with specific numerical thresholds in official marine warnings. • Consider how the severity scale progresses from small craft to hurricane: which of the options naturally fits an increasing scale with set cutoff values?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify which element the NWS defines with specific knot ranges for each warning category. • Check whether wave heights alone are used, or if they usually result from another primary condition. • Confirm that precipitation (rain) and cloud cover are often mentioned in forecasts, but ask if they are used as the defining threshold for these warning terms.