694
AXPZ20 KNHC 181448
TWDEP
TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1605 UTC WED MAR 18 2026
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 1200 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH
1400 UTC.
..SPECIAL FEATURES
GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC GALE WARNING: THE PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN
HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS EASTERN MEXICO AND THE EQUATORIAL TROUGH IS
SUPPORTING GALE FORCE GAP WINDS IN THE TEHUANTEPEC REGION, WITH
SEAS PEAKING NEAR 14 FT. WINDS WILL BRIEFLY DIMINISH BELOW GALE-
FORCE BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS, THEN PULSE TO GALE-FORCE AGAIN LATE
TONIGHT THROUGH FRI MORNING. ANOTHER BRIEF LULL IS POSSIBLE
BEFORE WINDS PULSE BACK TO MINIMAL GALE-FORCE POSSIBLY LATE FRI
NIGHT. PLEASE READ THE LATEST HIGH SEAS FORECAST ISSUED BY THE
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT WEBSITE -
HTTPS://WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV/TEXT/MIAHSFEP2.SHTML FOR MORE
INFORMATION.
..INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE/MONSOON TROUGH
A SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDS FROM 07N77.5W TO 03.5N82W TO 03N97W.
THE ITCZ EXTENDS FROM 03N97W TO 03N120W TO BEYOND 03.5N140W.
SCATTERED MODERATE CONVECTION IS NOTED FROM 02N TO 05N BETWEEN
97W AND 105W, AND FROM 04.5N TO 09N BETWEEN 114W AND 127W.
..OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF MEXICO
PLEASE SEE SPECIAL FEATURES ABOVE FOR MORE ON A GALE WARNING IN
THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC.
ASIDE FROM THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC, A WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT IS
GENERATING LIGHT TO GENTLE WINDS. MODERATE SEAS PREVAIL OVER THE
OPEN WATERS, WITH SLIGHT SEAS IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA.
FOR THE FORECAST ASIDE FROM THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC GALE WARNING,
A WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT LIGHT TO
GENTLE WINDS, INCREASING TO MODERATE NEAR BAJA CALIFORNIA BY THE
END OF THE WEEK, THEN TO MODERATE TO FRESH THIS WEEKEND AS THE
PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS SLIGHTLY. MODERATE SEAS WILL CONTINUE
TO PREVAIL OVER THE OPEN WATERS, WITH SLIGHT SEAS IN THE GULF OF
CALIFORNIA. LOOKING AHEAD, SEAS MAY BUILD IN FRESH N SWELLS OFF
BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE LATE IN THE WEEKEND.
....OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA,
AND WITHIN 750 NM OF ECUADOR...
MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH WINDS PREVAIL IN THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO.
SEAS OF 7-10 FT ARE OFFSHORE WESTERN GUATEMALA DUE TO AN ONGOING
GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC GAP WIND EVENT. OTHERWISE, LIGHT TO GENTLE
WINDS AND MODERATE SEAS IN THE 4-6 FT RANGE PREVAIL ACROSS THE
REMAINDER OF THE DISCUSSION WATERS.
FOR THE FORECAST, LARGE NW SWELL GENERATED BY THE GALE-FORCE GAP
WINDS IN THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC WILL IMPACT THE OFFSHORE WATERS OF
GUATEMALA INTO THE EVENING, AND THEN AGAIN ON FRI. FRESH TO LOCALLY
STRONG WINDS WILL PULSE NIGHTLY IN THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO STARTING THU
NIGHT. MODERATE WINDS WILL PULSE IN THE GULF OF PANAMA STARTING THU
NIGHT, THEN PULSE TO MODERATE TO FRESH THIS WEEKEND. GENTLE BREEZES
AND MODERATE SEAS WILL PREVAIL ELSEWHERE.
..REMAINDER OF THE AREA
A WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE AREA IS SUPPORTING MOSTLY
GENTLE TO MODERATE WINDS ACROSS THE OPEN WATERS. MODERATE WAVE
HEIGHTS IN THE 4-6 FT RANGE PREVAIL.
FOR THE FORECAST, LARGE N TO NE SWELL GENERATED FROM A GULF OF
TEHUANTEPEC GALE-FORCE GAP WINDS WILL BRING ROUGH SEAS TO THE
WATERS MAINLY FROM 08N TO 12N AND EAST OF 100W FOR THE REST OF
THE DAY INTO THE EVENING. OTHERWISE, MODERATE OR WEAKER WINDS
AND MODERATE SEAS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE REGION INTO THE
WEEKEND. LOOKING AHEAD, FRESH N SWELL MAY BUILD S OF 30N FROM OFF
CALIFORNIA BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND.
LEWITSKY
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