000 AXPZ20 KNHC 122143 TWDEP TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 2205 UTC MON MAR 12 2012 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N...EAST OF 140W. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...RADAR...AND METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS. BASED ON 1800 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 2100 UTC. ...INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE/MONSOON TROUGH... MONSOON TROUGH IS NOT PRESENT ACROSS E PACIFIC. ITCZ AXIS EXTENDS FROM 03N98W TO 00N110W AND CONTINUES S OF THE EQUATOR. SCATTERED MODERATE IS FROM 01N TO 04N BETWEEN 94W AND 105W. ...DISCUSSION... AN UPPER LEVEL LOW IS OVER THE NW SECTION N OF 20N W OF 120W. A 70 TO 90 KT UPPER LEVEL JETSTREAM IS S OF THE TROUGH FROM 17N140W TO NW MEXICO NEAR 30N110W WITH BROKEN HIGH CLOUD. THE REMAINDER OF THE E PACIFIC AREA HAS MOSTLY ZONAL FLOW WITH STRONG SUBSIDENCE. A WEAK 1020 MB HIGH IS CENTERED NEAR 31N122W. A SURFACE TROUGH IS FURTHER W OVER THE NW SECTION FROM 33N128W TO 27N129W. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE WITHIN 30 NM OF THE TROUGH. 8 TO 11 FT NE SWELL ARE ACCOMPANYING THIS TROUGH. FURTHER S... NE TRADES OF 20 KT ARE GENERALLY FROM 05N TO 12N W OF 133W...WITH SEAS IN THE 9-11 FT RANGE. TRADES ARE FORECAST TO DIMINISH TO LESS THAN 20 KT WITHIN 48 HOURS. E OF 110W...WINDS ARE DOMINATED BY GAP WIND FLOW SPILLING FROM THE CARIBBEAN ACROSS CENTRAL AMERICA AND THEN DOWNSTREAM ACROSS THE EPAC...WITH WEAK WINDS S OF 05N. GAP WINDS... THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC...20-25 KT WINDS ARE FORECAST TO PULSE THROUGH THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS WITH STRONGEST WINDS DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO...FRESH TRADES ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN CONTINUE TO FUEL GAP WIND FLOW ACROSS CENTRAL AMERICA THEN THROUGH THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO AND JUST DOWNWIND OF THE GULF FONSECA...EXTENDING WELL SW TO NEAR 93W...WITH DOWNWIND SEAS PRESENTLY AT 8 TO 9 FT. THESE WINDS ARE FORECAST TO PERSIST FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS. THE GULF OF PANAMA...TRADES IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT PULSES OF FRESH NORTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA AND ACROSS THE GULF OF PANAMA. SEAS ARE PRESENTLY LESS THAN 8 FT...BUT ARE EXPECTED TO BUILD TO 8 FT WITHIN 24 HOURS AND CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. $$ FORMOSA