Chicago Buoy
Current conditions are outside your 15 kt wind or 2.5 ft seas limit.
Right now
updated 3:00 AM
42°F · sets 6:06 PM
gusts 29 kt
Next tide turn unavailable
Water level not reported
Latest observations plus the current-hour NWS sky forecast. The call itself runs on the hourly forecast; nearby NDBC 45198 observations do not replace it.
Small Craft Advisory issued October 17 at 12:56AM CDT until October 17 at 10:00AM CDT by NWS Chicago IL In effect through 10/17/2026, 11:00:00 AM EDT.
Read the NWS alertHow the day develops
Available forecast · 9 kt peak wind · 9 ft peak seas · Steep, close chop
Drag the handle to time-travel. Let go to come back to now.
Right now. No-Go. Seas are the limiting factor. 9 feet every 11 seconds, 6.5 feet over your 2.5 foot limit. clear, wind north 9 knots, comfortably under the limit, tide tide not applicable.
Tide chart
Chicago Buoy tides
Water temperature 59.9°F at Oct 17, 2:40 AM CDT from NDBC 45198. Chicago Buoy water temperature.
Nearby harbors
Nearby boating conditions
Local source coverage
Lake forecast and boating conditions for Chicago Buoy
Boat or Nope's preview for Chicago Buoy in Illinois uses public lake wind, wave, hazard, and local-weather sources for trip planning.
This named water in Illinois uses Chicago Buoy (45198, 0.0 NM away) for lake observations and Chicago/Midway Intl (KMDW, 10.8 NM away) for nearby weather context. NWS weather and alerts resolve at the destination coordinates.
Boat or Nope continuously checks the source bindings behind this planning page. Great Lakes briefings do not imply tide coverage.