Gale warning ends as gusts linger; cold nights give way to a sunny weekend
Winds ease on Buzzards Bay after days of gale warnings; highs reach 56 Saturday and 61 Sunday under sunny skies.
SOUTH COAST The gale warning that had covered the coastal waters off the South Coast from Monday into Wednesday came down Wednesday afternoon, but gusty northeast winds will linger over land through Thursday before the two coldest nights of the week give way to a clear, sunny weekend, the National Weather Service said.
A chance of rain moves in between 8 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday, with cloudy skies and a low around 50. North winds around 16 mph could gust as high as 31 mph, the weather service's Norton office said in its Wednesday afternoon forecast. The chance of measurable rain is 30 percent.
Thursday turns mostly sunny with a high near 59, but the wind stays up: north winds of 14 to 18 mph, gusting as high as 31 mph through the day.
Two nights in the 30s
The coldest air of the week follows the wind. Thursday night drops to around 39 under mostly clear skies, and Friday night falls to around 36, the weather service said. Both nights keep a north wind, 9 to 14 mph Thursday night and a lighter 2 to 7 mph Friday night.
Friday itself stays sunny but cool, with a high near 53, the lowest daytime high of the week.
Sun for the Halloween weekend
The weekend answers with sun. Saturday is sunny with a high near 56 and a light west wind around 5 mph. Sunday is sunny and milder, with a high near 61 and a light southwest wind. Saturday night stays clear with a low around 38, and Sunday night is mostly clear with a low around 44.
The dry, bright stretch lands just in time for the first big Halloween weekend of the season, with trunk-or-treats, haunted walks and fall festivals on the calendar across the South Coast from Friday through Sunday.
On the water
On Buzzards Bay, north winds around 10 knots Wednesday afternoon were expected to hold at 10 to 15 knots overnight, with seas of 2 to 4 feet, the weather service said. Thursday brings lighter north winds of 5 to 10 knots and seas of 2 to 3 feet.
Mariners should watch Friday night, when northeast winds build to 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots and seas build to 4 to 6 feet. The rough water does not settle for the weekend: northeast winds of 20 to 25 knots Saturday build to 25 to 30 knots by Saturday night, with seas of 5 to 8 feet, and they stay there into Sunday night.
No weather watches, warnings or advisories were in effect anywhere in Massachusetts as of late Wednesday afternoon, a change from the start of the week, when a gale warning covered the coastal waters from Monday into Wednesday.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
How we verified this
Every fact in this story comes from the National Weather Service: the seven-day forecast for the New Bedford grid point, the Buzzards Bay coastal waters forecast and the service's active alert map, all read on Oct. 21, 2026, late in the afternoon. The seven-day forecast was updated at 2:22 p.m. and the marine forecast at 2:37 p.m. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. The line that a gale warning covered the coastal waters from Monday into Wednesday is from South Coast 360's own coverage of that storm, live at southcoast360.com. No other news outlet is a source for this story.
Corrections
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Sources (3)
- National Weather Service, Norton office: seven-day forecast for the New Bedford grid pointNational Weather Service forecast, updated 2:22 p.m. Oct. 21, 2026. Wednesday: mostly cloudy, high 57, northeast wind 18 mph, gusts to 29. Wednesday night: rain chance between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., low 50, north wind 16 mph, gusts to 31, 30 percent chance. Thursday: mostly sunny, high 59, north wind 14 to 18 mph, gusts to 31. Thursday night: mostly clear, low 39, north wind 9 to 14 mph. Friday: sunny, high 53, north wind 8 to 13 mph. Friday night: clear, low 36, north wind 2 to 7 mph. Saturday: sunny, high 56, west wind 5 mph. Saturday night: clear, low 38. Sunday: sunny, high 61, southwest wind 2 to 7 mph. Sunday night: mostly clear, low 44. Read Oct. 21, 2026.
- National Weather Service: Buzzards Bay coastal waters forecastNational Weather Service marine forecast for Buzzards Bay, updated 2:37 p.m. Oct. 21, 2026. Wednesday afternoon: north winds 10 knots, seas 3 to 4 feet. Wednesday night: north 10 to 15 knots, seas 2 to 4 feet. Thursday: north 5 to 10 knots, seas 2 to 3 feet. Thursday night: north 5 to 10 knots becoming northeast 10 to 15, seas 2 to 3 feet. Friday: northeast 15 to 20 knots diminishing to 10 to 15, seas 2 to 4 feet. Friday night: northeast 20 to 25 knots, gusts to 30, seas 4 to 6 feet. Saturday: northeast 20 to 25 knots increasing to 25 to 30, seas 5 to 7 feet. Saturday night: northeast 25 to 30 knots, seas 5 to 8 feet. Sunday: northeast 20 to 25 knots, seas 5 to 8 feet. Sunday night: northeast 25 to 30 knots diminishing to 20 to 25, seas 5 to 8 feet. Read Oct. 21, 2026.
- National Weather Service: active watches, warnings and advisories for MassachusettsNational Weather Service active alert map, read about 5:20 p.m. Oct. 21, 2026: no watches, warnings or advisories in effect anywhere in Massachusetts. Read Oct. 21, 2026.