000 AXNT20 KNHC 241750 TWDAT TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 205 PM EDT MON 24 MAY 2004 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR NORTH AMERICA...CENTRAL AMERICA...GULF OF MEXICO...CARIBBEAN SEA...AND ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE AFRICAN COAST FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N INCLUDING NORTHERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...RADAR...AND METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS. THE FORMAT FOR THE ATLANTIC TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION WILL CHANGE ON JULY 6 2004 BEGINNING WITH THE 205 PM ISSUANCE. INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHANGES IS AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS: WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OM/NOTIFICATION/SCN04-26ATL.TXT (ALL LOWERCASE). BASED ON 1200 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 1615 UTC. SPECIAL FEATURES... NONE. TROPICAL WAVES/ITCZ... WEAK TROPICAL WAVE ALONG 36.5W S OF 10N MOVING W 10 KT EMBEDDED WITHIN THE ITCZ. NO SATELLITE SIGNATURE IS OBSERVED. SEE ITCZ AXIS FOR CONVECTION. TROPICAL WAVE ALONG 56W S OF 10N MOVING W 10-15 KT EMBEDDED WITHIN THE ITCZ. NO SATELLITE SIGNATURE IS OBSERVED. NO ASSOCIATED DEEP CONVECTION. E CARIBBEAN TROPICAL WAVE ALONG 68W S OF 19N MOVING W 10 KT. TROPICAL WAVE IS INTERACTING WITH BROAD LOW/TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN. AXIS OF ITCZ-RELATED CLOUDS/CONVECTION IS CENTERED ALONG 7N01W 8N20W 7N30W 7N40W 09N60W. SCATTERED MODERATE CONVECTION IS WITHIN 90 NM OF THE AXIS FROM 14W TO 26W AND FROM 357W TO 43W. SCATTERED MODERATE CONVECTION COVERS WITH IN 60NM OF THE AXIS FROM 51W-60W. MIDDLE/UPPER LEVEL SYNOPTIC FEATURES... GULF OF MEXICO AND W CARIBBEAN... STRONG RIDGING WITH DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUES ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE W CARIBBEAN. STRONG SUBSIDENCE IN THE MID/UPPER LEVELS DUE TO AN ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION OVER THE E PACIFIC WITH A RIDGE AXIS EXTENDING N ACROSS MEXICO TO OVER THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES. ANTICYCLONIC FLOW COVERS THE W GULF W OF 90W. A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW REMAINS OVER THE ISLE OF YOUTH S OF W CUBA NEAR 22N83W. ASSOCIATED TROUGH AXIS EXTENDS SW OVER HONDURAS TO NEAR 14N87W FUNNELING EXTREMELY DRY AIR S FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO OVER THE YUCATAN PENINSULA AND THE NW CARIBBEAN W OF 80W. REMAINDER OF THE CARIBBEAN AND W ATLANTIC... MID/UPPER LEVEL ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION IS CENTERED OVER SW HAITI WITH RIDGING EXTENDING N INTO THE W ATLANTIC NEAR 32N73W. TROPICAL WAVE IS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF PUERTO RICO NEAR 68W S OF 19N. THIS IS PRODUCING HIGH CLOUDS OVER THE AREA DUE TO ADVECTION OF MOISTURE FROM THE CARIBBEAN. RIDGE AXIS HAS SHIFTED FURTHER SOUTH INTO THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN CUTTING THE SUBTROPICAL JET. CENTRAL ATLANTIC... UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS REMAINS OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC EXTENDING FROM 34N66W S INTO THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC NEAR 11N50W. LARGE AREA OF STRONG SUBSIDENCE LIES IN A ZONE FROM 24N-35N BETWEEN 81W-75W AND 12N-32N BETWEEN 57W-33W. TROPICAL ATLANTIC... WESTLEY FLOW EXTENDS SOUTH INTO THE TROPICS TO A RIDGE AXIS THAT EXTENDS FROM AFRICA TO 15N36W ALONG 20N. SURFACE SYNOPTIC FEATURES... SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDS FROM THE SW ATLANTIC NEAR 18N74W SW ACROSS TO 13N81W...A 1008 MB LOW CENTERED OVER SW HAITI NEAR 18N74W. 1026 MB HIGH DOMINATES THE ATLANTIC WITH RIDGING EXISTING WESTWARD OVER THE UNTIED STATES. 1019 HIGH IS LOCATED NEAR 32N84W OVER THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA. RIDING EXTEND SW INTO THE THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN. A 1017 MB LOW IS CENTERED NW OF THE CANARY ISLANDS NEAR 30N17W WITH A SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDING FROM 32N26W THROUGH THE LOW TO INLAND OVER N AFRICA. SIGNIFICANT CLOUDS/CONVECTION... GULF OF MEXICO... NONE. CARIBBEAN SEA... VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND NUMEROUS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS HISPANIOLA AND PUERTO RICO. FLASH FLOODING IS A POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY OVER MOUNTAINS AND STEEP-SLOPED TERRAIN. SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ARE OVER MUCH OF HISPANIOLA...PUERTO RICO AND THE LESSER ANTILLES. TROPICAL ATLANTIC... SEE TROPICAL WAVE ABOVE. BROKEN/ OVERCAST MID TO HIGH CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH WESTERLY FLOW FROM 14N46W NORTH TO THE CANARY ISLANDS. SUBTROPICAL ATLANTIC... BROKEN/OVERCAST MID/UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS COVER THE AN AREA S OF 34N BETWEEN 59W-75W. $$ PRALGO