528  
AXPZ20 KNHC 120958  
TWDEP  
 
TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION  
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL  
1005 UTC THU DEC 12 2024  
 
TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN FROM  
03.4S TO 30N, EAST OF 120W INCLUDING THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA, AND  
FROM THE EQUATOR TO 30N, BETWEEN 120W AND 140W. THE FOLLOWING  
INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY, WEATHER OBSERVATIONS,  
RADAR, AND METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS.  
 
BASED ON 0600 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH  
0800 UTC.  
   
..SPECIAL FEATURES  
 
TEHUANTEPEC STORM WARNING: THE MOST SIGNIFICANT GAP WIND EVENT  
THUS FAR OF THE SEASON CONTINUES TONIGHT ACROSS THE GULF OF  
TEHUANTEPEC, AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRI MORNING. STRONG HIGH  
PRESSURE ACROSS THE NW GULF OF MEXICO IS BUILDING SOUTHWARD  
ACROSS THE REGION, BEHIND A COLD FRONT STRETCHING ACROSS WESTERN  
CUBA TO NORTHERN HONDURAS. THIS PATTERN IS SUPPORTING STORM-  
FORCE N WINDS FROM THE TEHUANTEPEC COAST TO NEAR 14N, WITH  
STRONG TO GALE-FORCE WINDS THEN EXTENDING 300 NM OFFSHORE OF THE  
COAST. EVENING SATELLITE ALTIMETER DATA MEASURED HIGH SEAS OF 14  
TO 18 FT DOWNWIND OF TEHUANTEPEC, AND SEAS ARE LIKELY PEAKING AT  
18 TO 21 FT TONIGHT. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH BELOW STORM-  
FORCE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW HOURS. STRONG GALES WILL THEN CONTINUE  
THU AND VERY SLOWLY DIMINISH BELOW GALE-FORCE NEAR SUNRISE ON  
FRI. STRONG TO NEAR- GALE FORCE STRENGTH WINDS ARE THEN EXPECTED  
TO CONTINUE FRI THROUGH MON MORNING AS STRONG HIGH PRESSURE  
PERSISTS ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE NW CARIBBEAN. LARGE  
SWELL OF 8 FT AND GREATER GENERATED FROM THIS SIGNIFICANT EVENT  
WILL SPREAD AS FAR SOUTH AS 06N BY THU EVENING, EXTENDING BETWEEN  
THE PAPAGAYO REGION AND 105W. SIGNIFICANT WINDS AND SEAS  
OCCURRING THIS WEEKEND ACROSS TEHUANTEPEC ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO  
EXTEND TO AROUND 240 NM OFFSHORE.  
 
PLEASE READ THE LATEST HIGH SEAS AND OFFSHORE WATERS FORECASTS  
ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT WEBSITE:  
HTTPS://WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV/TEXT/MIAHSFEP2.SHTML AND  
HTTPS://WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV/MARINE/OFFSHORES_EASTPAC.PHP FOR MORE  
INFORMATION.  
   
..INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE/MONSOON TROUGH  
 
THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS EXTENDS FROM 09N76W TO 10N85W TO 06.5N92W  
TO 07N102W. THE ITCZ THEN CONTINUES FROM 07N102W TO 09N118W TO  
BEYOND 06.5N140W. SCATTERED MODERATE ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTION  
IS NOTED FROM 05N TO 07.5N E OF 80W AND FROM 06N TO 10N BETWEEN  
96W AND 125W.  
   
..OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF MEXICO  
 
PLEASE REFER TO THE SPECIAL FEATURES SECTION FOR INFORMATION ON  
THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC STORM WARNING.  
 
STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION OF THE WESTERN  
U.S. EXTENDING SOUTHWARD INTO THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA, TO THE  
WEST OF TROUGHING ALONG THE SIERRA MADRE OCCIDENTALS OF NORTHWEST  
MEXICO, HAS WEAKENED AND BEGUN TO SHIFT EASTWARD TONIGHT. STRONG  
WINDS ACROSS THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA AND EXTENDING TO OFFSHORE OF  
CABO CORRIENTES THIS PAST AFTERNOON ARE STEADILY WEAKENING TO  
MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH TONIGHT, WITH SEAS SUBSIDING TO 4 TO 7  
FT. ELSEWHERE A BROAD HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE EXTENDS SOUTHEASTWARD  
INTO BAJA CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWESTERN MEXICO. THIS PATTERN IS  
PRODUCING GENTLE TO MODERATE NW TO N WINDS ACROSS THE BAJA  
OFFSHORE WATERS, WHERE SEAS ARE 5 TO 7 FT IN NW SWELL, EXCEPT TO  
8 FT NW OF ISLA GUADALUPE. FARTHER SOUTH, WEAK RIDGING PREVAILS  
OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHWESTERN MEXICO, LEADING TO LIGHT TO GENTLE  
WINDS. SEAS OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHWESTERN MEXICO RANGE FROM 4 TO  
6 FT IN NW TO W SWELL.  
 
FOR THE FORECAST, WINDS AND SEAS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH ACROSS THE  
TEHUANTEPEC REGION THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THU NIGHT WITH GALES  
FORECAST TO END NEAR SUNRISE ON FRI. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN  
STRONG TO NEAR GALE-FORCE STRENGTH FRI THROUGH MON MORNING THERE  
AS A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE PERSISTS ACROSS THE GULF OF  
MEXICO AND THE NW CARIBBEAN. ELSEWHERE, MODERATE TO LOCALLY  
FRESH NW WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS WILL BUILD ACROSS THE WATERS NORTH  
OF PUNTA EUGENIA THU NIGHT INTO FRI, AS A WEAKENING COLD FRONT  
MOVES INTO THE BAJA NORTE WATERS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD  
MODESTLY ACROSS THE AREA WATERS SAT AFTERNOON THROUGH MON BEHIND  
THIS DYING FRONT TO BRING A RETURN TO MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH  
NW TO N WINDS ACROSS ALL WATERS W OF MANZANILLO.  
 
...OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA,  
AND WITHIN 750 NM OF ECUADOR...  
 
A TIGHTENING PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS CENTRAL AMERICA IS  
DEVELOPING AS STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO IS  
BUILDING SOUTHWARD INTO THE REGION BEHIND A COLD FRONT ACROSS  
THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN THAT STRETCHES FROM WESTERN CUBA TO  
NORTHERN HONDURAS. FRESH TO STRONG NE WINDS ARE ACROSS THE GULF  
OF PAPAGAYO REGION, WHERE SEAS ARE 6 TO 7 FT. ELSEWHERE N OF 10N  
WINDS ARE LIGHT TO GENTLE WITH SEAS GENERALLY 4 TO 6 FT. S OF 10N  
LIGHT TO MODERATE S TO SW WINDS AND SEAS OF 4 TO 5 FT ARE NOTED  
SOUTH OF THE MONSOON TROUGH, WITH MODERATE N WINDS OCCURRING  
ACROSS THE WESTERN GULF OF PANAMA.  
 
FOR THE FORECAST, FRESH TO STRONG NE GAP WINDS ARE EXPECTED  
ACROSS THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO REGION THROUGH FRI MORNING AS STRONG  
HIGH PRESSURE PERSISTS ACROSS THE NW CARIBBEAN BEHIND A COLD  
FRONT. WINDS ACROSS THE PAPAGAYO REGION WILL THEN PULSE TO STRONG  
AT NIGHT THROUGH SUN MORNING. STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS AND VERY  
ROUGH SEAS OCCURRING ALONG THE EASTERN EDGE OF A STRONG  
TEHUANTEPEC GALE-FORCE WIND EVENT WILL IMPACT THE OFFSHORE WATERS  
OF SOUTHWESTERN GUATEMALA THROUGH FRI, WITH ASSOCIATED NW SWELL  
SPREADING TO OFFSHORE OF PAPAGAYO BY THU AFTERNOON. WINDS  
OFFSHORE OF GUATEMALA WILL DIMINISH THU NIGHT WITH SEAS SLOWLY  
SUBSIDING THROUGH FRI AFTERNOON. MODERATE N WINDS ACROSS THE  
WESTERN GULF OF PANAMA WILL PULSE TO FRESH AT NIGHT THROUGH THIS  
WEEKEND. OTHERWISE, GENTLE TO MODERATE S TO SW WINDS AND MODERATE  
SEAS WILL PREVAIL SOUTH OF THE MONSOON TROUGH, WITH GENTLE WINDS  
AND SLIGHT SEAS OCCURRING NORTH OF THE TROUGH, AWAY FROM THE GAP  
WINDS.  
   
..REMAINDER OF THE AREA  
 
A 1027 MB HIGH IS CENTERED NORTHWEST OF THE AREA NEAR 38N140W,  
AND EXTENDS A BROAD RIDGE SOUTH AND SOUTHEASTWARD TO THE NORTH  
OF THE ITCZ. MODERATE TO FRESH TRADES ARE OCCURRING SOUTH OF 25N  
AND WEST OF 120W, WITH LOCALLY STRONG NE TO E WINDS OCCURRING  
BETWEEN 08N AND 20W WEST OF 136W, WHERE SEAS ARE 10 TO 13 FT IN  
NW SWELL. NORTH OF 25N, GENTLE TO LOCALLY MODERATE ANTICYCLONIC  
WINDS ARE NOTED, AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT ALONG 32N  
FRESH NW SWELL IS COMBINING WITH RESIDUAL SEAS NORTH OF THE ITCZ,  
TO PRODUCE A BROAD SWATH OF SEAS OF 8 TO 11 FT NORTH OF 05N AND  
WEST OF 120W. SOUTH OF THE ITCZ, MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH SE  
WINDS AND SEAS OF 5 TO 8 FT PREVAIL.  
 
FOR THE FORECAST, THE NW SWELL WILL PROPAGATE SOUTHEASTWARD OVER  
THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, WITH THIS SWELL COMBINING WITH TRADE WIND  
SWELL ALONG AND NORTH OF THE ITCZ. THIS WILL MAINTAIN SEAS OF 8  
FT AND HIGHER NORTH OF 06N AND WEST OF 118W TONIGHT THROUGH FRI.  
PEAK SEAS AROUND 13 FT ARE EXPECTED IN THE FAR WESTERN WATERS  
BETWEEN 10N AND 20N WEST OF 135W IN THE ZONE OF STRONGEST TRADE  
WINDS. THESE FRESH TO STRONG TRADES WINDS WILL CONTINUE FROM  
NORTH OF THE ITCZ TO 20N, WEST OF 120W. FARTHER EAST, MODERATE TO  
LOCALLY FRESH TRADE WINDS WILL CONTINUE NORTH OF THE ITCZ TO  
AROUND 15N BETWEEN 105W AND 120W. MODERATE NW SWELL MOVING  
THROUGH THE REGIONAL WATERS WILL MERGE WITH NE SWELL GENERATED  
DOWNWIND OF THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC TO PRODUCE ROUGH SEAS OF 8 TO  
12 FT ACROSS THESE WATERS THROUGH SUN BEFORE CONDITIONS IMPROVE.  
AN E TO W RIDGE WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA WATERS ALONG ABOUT 27N  
OVER THE WEEKEND TO MAINTAIN FRESH TRADE WINDS FROM 20N TO THE  
ITCZ INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
 
 
STRIPLING  
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