000 AXNT20 KNHC 202356 TWDAT TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 705 PM EST FRI DEC 20 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 1800 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 2315 UTC. ...SPECIAL FEATURES... GALE FORCE WINDS ARE OCCURRING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SW CARIBBEAN SEA...NORTH OF THE COAST OF COLOMBIA...DUE TO STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN A 1030 MB HIGH CENTERED NE OF BERMUDA NEAR 34N60W AND A 1003 MB LOW CENTERED OVER NORTH COLOMBIA NEAR 6N75W. SEE LATEST NWS HIGH SEAS FORECAST UNDER AWIPS/WMO HEADERS MIAHSFAT2/FZNT02 KNHC FOR MORE DETAILS. GALE FORCE NORTHEASTERLY WINDS ARE OCCURRING IN THE VICINITY OF AND TO WEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS NEAR 16N28W AS DEPICTED ON EARLIER ASCAT PASSES BETWEEN 20/1032 UTC AND 20/1216 UTC. SEE LATEST HIGH SEAS FORECASTS ISSUED BY METEO-FRANCE FOR MORE DETAILS. ...ITCZ/MONSOON TROUGH... THE INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE AXIS EXTENDS FROM THE AFRICAN COAST NEAR 5N5W TO 8N15W TO 5N30W TO 4N40W TO THE COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA NEAR 1N50W. ISOLATED MODERATE CONVECTION IS FROM 2N-8N BETWEEN 15W-35W. ...DISCUSSION... GULF OF MEXICO... A 1030 MB HIGH CENTERED NE OF BERMUDA NEAR 34N60W IS PRODUCING 10-20 KT SE RETURN FLOW OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO...WITH WARM TEMPERATURES. FAIR WEATHER IS OVER THE GULF. RADAR IMAGERY CONFIRMS THE GULF IS VOID OF PRECIPITATION. IN THE UPPER LEVELS... AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS PRODUCING SW FLOW WITH UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE OVER TEXAS AND THE NW GULF N OF 27N W OF 90W. STRONG SUBSIDENCE IS OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE GULF. EXPECT IN 24 HOURS FOR A COLD FRONT TO REACH THE TEXAS COAST WITH CONVECTION. CARIBBEAN SEA... GALE FORCE WINDS ARE OCCURRING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SW CARIBBEAN SEA...NORTH OF THE COAST OF COLOMBIA. SEE ABOVE. 15-30 KT TRADEWINDS ARE OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE OVER THE GULF OF HONDURAS...BELIZE... HONDURAS...AND NICARAGUA. MORE SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE OVER E CUBA...THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC...PUERTO RICO...AND THE LEEWARD ISLANDS...ALL MOVING W WITH THE TRADEWINDS. IN THE UPPER LEVELS...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS OVER THE CARIBBEAN SEA WITH AXIS FROM N COLOMBIA TO THE YUCATAN CHANNEL. STRONG SUBSIDENCE IS OVER ALL OF CENTRAL AMERICA...THE CARIBBEAN SEA...AND THE NORTHERN PORTION OF SOUTH AMERICA N OF 3N. EXPECT OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS FOR ADDITIONAL SHOWERS TO BE OVER THE W CARIBBEAN AND CENTRAL AMERICA. ...HISPANIOLA... PRESENTLY SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE OVER THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MOVING W WITH THE TRADEWINDS. IN THE UPPER LEVELS...VERY STRONG SUBSIDENCE IS SUPPRESSING THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. EXPECT SIMILAR SHOWERS OVER ALL OF HISPANIOLA OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ATLANTIC OCEAN... A 1030 MB HIGH IS CENTERED NE OF BERMUDA NEAR 34N60W PRODUCING FAIR WEATHER OVER THE BAHAMAS AND W ATLANTIC. THE TAIL END OF A STATIONARY FRONT IS OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC BETWEEN 30N AND 40N. ANOTHER 1034 MB HIGH IS CENTERED OVER THE E ATLANTIC NEAR 38N14W. ELSEWHERE...GALE FORCE NORTHEASTERLY WINDS ARE OCCURRING IN THE VICINITY OF AND TO WEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS NEAR 16N28W. SEE ABOVE. A SURFACE TROUGH IS ALSO OVER THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC FROM 18N42W TO 8N39W. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE WITHIN 180 NM OF THE TROUGH AXIS. OF NOTE IN THE UPPER LEVELS...A LARGE UPPER LEVEL LOW IS CENTERED OVER THE E ATLANTIC NEAR 26N33W. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE FROM 20N-33N BETWEEN 23W-32W. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.HURRICANES.GOV/MARINE $$ FORMOSA