000 AXNT20 KNHC 021755 TWDAT TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 205 PM EDT TUE APR 02 2013 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR NORTH AMERICA...CENTRAL AMERICA...GULF OF MEXICO...CARIBBEAN SEA...NORTHERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA...AND ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE AFRICAN COAST FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...RADAR...AND METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS. BASED ON 1200 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 1645 UTC. ...THE ITCZ/THE MONSOON TROUGH... THE MONSOON TROUGH PASSES THROUGH COASTAL SIERRA LEONE NEAR 8N13W TO 4N16W AND 2N21W. THE ITCZ CONTINUES FROM 2N21W...CROSSING THE EQUATOR ALONG 28W...TO 1S34W. CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION...SCATTERED MODERATE TO ISOLATED STRONG TO THE SOUTH OF 7N12W 4N22W 3N29W. RAINSHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE TO THE SOUTH OF 6N TO THE EAST OF 40W. ...DISCUSSION... FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN THAT IS TO THE WEST OF 64W INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO... A MID-UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PASSES THROUGH 32N74W TO 24N73W. THE TROUGH SUPPORTS A COLD FRONT THAT PASSES THROUGH 32N74W TO 30N80W...ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO TO 29N89W...BEYOND SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA. AN ATLANTIC OCEAN SURFACE TROUGH IS ALONG 28N66W 26N70W...PASSING THROUGH THE BAHAMAS TO 22N76W. NUMEROUS STRONG CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION IS WITHIN 30 TO 60 NM ON EITHER SIDE OF 29N63W 27N66W 24N69W. WIDELY SCATTERED TO SCATTERED MODERATE AND ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION IS ELSEWHERE WITHIN 120 NM ON EITHER SIDE OF THE LINE THAT PASSES THROUGH 32N61W TO 28N66W AND 23N72W. RAINSHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO TO THE WEST OF 90W. A 1019 MB HIGH PRESSURE CENTER IS IN THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO NEAR 26N83W. SURFACE ANTICYCLONIC WIND FLOW COVERS THE AREA FROM CUBA TO 28N BETWEEN THE BAHAMAS AND 90W. THE REST OF THE GULF OF MEXICO... A MIDDLE LEVEL TO UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EXTENDS FROM THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC OF SOUTHERN MEXICO... TO 24N93W IN THE WEST CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO... BEYOND SOUTH CENTRAL COASTAL LOUISIANA. FOR THE OIL PLATFORM SITES THAT ARE TO THE NORTH OF 27N TO THE WEST OF 88W... BROKEN LOW CLOUDS AND 3 TO 4 MILES VISIBILITY WITH HAZE ARE AT THE SITES THAT ARE OFF THE TEXAS COAST. ICAO STATION KGBK IS REPORTING A MIDDLE LEVEL CLOUD CEILING. ICAO STATION KGUL IS REPORTING A VISIBILITY OF 2 MILES WITH FOG. ICAO STATION KHQI IS REPORTING A VISIBILITY OF 3 MILES WITH FOG. ICAO STATIONS KSPR...KMDJ AND KEIR...AND KMYT ARE REPORTING SCATTERED CLOUDS WHOSE BASES RANGE IN HEIGHT FROM 4600 FEET...TO 5000 FEET...TO 5500 FEET. CLOUD CEILINGS RANGING FROM 1000 FEET TO 8000 FEET COVER THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF TEXAS. LOW CLOUD CEILINGS ARE BEING REPORTED IN THE MIDDLE TEXAS COASTAL PLAINS. LOW CLOUD CEILINGS COVER THE REST OF THE TEXAS GULF COASTAL PLAINS. FAIR SKIES/CLEAR SKIES COVER THE GULF COASTAL PLAINS FROM THE UPPER TEXAS GULF COAST TO SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA. THE FOURCHON SAWRS OBSERVATION INDICATES SCATTERED CLOUDS AT 10000 FEET. LIGHT RAIN WAS FALLING AT THE KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE IN BILOXI MISSISSIPPI. BROKEN HIGH CLOUDS ARE MIXED WITH FAIR SKIES ELSEWHERE BETWEEN SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. SCATTERED HIGH CLOUDS ARE IN TAMPA FLORIDA. FAIR SKIES/CLEAR SKIES ARE BEING OBSERVED ELSEWHERE ALONG THE FLORIDA GULF COAST. PLEASE READ THE HIGH SEAS FORECAST...MIAHSFAT2...AND THE OFFSHORE FORECAST...MIAOFFNT4...FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE 24 HOUR FORECAST STATIONARY FRONT FROM 30N84W TO 28N90W TO 29N95W. EXPECT 20 TO 30 KNOT WINDS AND SEA HEIGHTS LOWER THAN 8 FEET TO THE NORTH OF THE FRONT. THE CARIBBEAN SEA... A MIDDLE LEVEL TO UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EXTENDS FROM COLOMBIA NEAR ITS BORDER WITH PANAMA...TO 11N83W ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL NICARAGUA AND NORTHWESTERN HONDURAS...TO THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC OF SOUTHERN MEXICO. MIDDLE LEVEL TO UPPER LEVEL WESTERLY TO SOUTHWESTERLY WIND FLOW SPANS THE CARIBBEAN SEA. COMPARATIVELY DRIER AIR IN SUBSIDENCE IS TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE LINE THAT RUNS FROM COASTAL BELIZE NEAR 18N88W TO COASTAL CUBA NEAR 21N79W. MULTILAYERED MOISTURE IS MOVING FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF THE GULF OF MEXICO...ACROSS THE YUCATAN PENINSULA...INTO THE YUCATAN CHANNEL AND THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA. THE MONSOON TROUGH IS ALONG 9N74W IN COLOMBIA...TO 8N78W IN PANAMA...BEYOND 8N81W ALSO IN PANAMA...INTO THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN. CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION... NUMEROUS STRONG WAS IN COLOMBIA FROM 6N TO 8N BETWEEN 73W AND 75W AND FROM 3N TO 7N BETWEEN 76W AND 78W AT 02/0845 UTC. THAT PRECIPITATION EVENTUALLY WEAKENED AND DISSIPATED. CONVECTIVE DEBRIS CLOUDS REMAIN... WITH POSSIBLE LINGERING PRECIPITATION...FROM 3N TO 8N BETWEEN 75W AND 80W. NUMEROUS STRONG CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION IS IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN FROM 4N TO 8N BETWEEN 80W AND 85W. PLEASE READ THE HIGH SEAS FORECAST...MIAHSFAT2...AND THE OFFSHORE FORECAST...MIAOFFNT3...FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE 20 TO 25 KNOT WINDS...AND 8 TO 12 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS FROM 11N TO 17N TO THE EAST OF 78W. EXPECT WIND SPEEDS REACHING 30 KNOTS WITHIN 90 NM OF THE COAST OF COLOMBIA. EXPECT ALSO THE HIGHEST SEA HEIGHTS NEAR THE COAST OF COLOMBIA. THE REST OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN... A MIDDLE LEVEL TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PASSES THROUGH 32N26W 27N35W 22N47W AND 22N49W. THE TROUGH SUPPORTS A COLD FRONT THAT PASSES THROUGH 32N21W TO 30N23W. THE COLD FRONT IS DISSIPATING FROM 30N23W TO 25N30W AND 23N40W. RAINSHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE LINE THAT PASSES THROUGH 32N12W 27N16W 19N30W 15N40W 16N52W. A 1030 MB HIGH PRESSURE CENTER IS NEAR 32N46W. SURFACE ANTICYCLONIC WIND FLOW COVERS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN...AWAY FROM THE 30N23W 23N40W DISSIPATING COLD FRONT...TO THE NORTH OF 7N BETWEEN 20W AND 63W. PLEASE READ THE HIGH SEAS FORECAST...MIAHSFAT2... FOR DETAILS ABOUT THE 20 TO 25 KNOT WINDS AND 11 TO 14 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS TO THE NORTH OF 28N TO THE EAST OF 40W. EXPECT 20 KNOTS OR LESS WINDS AND 8 TO 11 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS ELSEWHERE TO THE NORTH OF 23N TO THE EAST OF 50W. A SECOND AREA OF INTEREST CONSISTS OF 20 TO 25 KNOT WINDS AND 8 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS TO THE NORTH OF 30N BETWEEN 62W AND 68W. A THIRD AREA OF INTEREST CONSISTS OF 20 TO 25 KNOT WINDS AND 8 TO 11 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS TO THE SOUTH OF 20N TO THE EAST OF 64W. THE HIGHEST SEAS WILL BE FOUND TO THE SOUTH OF 13N TO THE WEST OF 45W. EXPECT 20 TO 25 KNOT WINDS AND 8 TO 10 FOOT SEA HEIGHTS ALSO FROM 20N TO 22N BETWEEN 55W AND 65W. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.HURRICANES.GOV/MARINE $$ MT