000 ABNT20 KNHC 052346 TWOAT SPECIAL TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 645 PM EST SUN FEB 5 2012 FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO... A NON-TROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM INTERACTING WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH IS PRODUCING WIDESPREAD CLOUDINESS...SHOWERS...AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL CUBA...THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS...AND ADJACENT WATERS OF THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA...SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO...AND THE FLORIDA STRAITS. THE LOW IS CENTERED JUST WEST OF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA...AND A SURFACE CIRCULATION CENTER IS GRADUALLY BECOMING BETTER DEFINED. SHOWER ACTIVITY HAS BEEN SLOWLY INCREASING AND HAS BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED TODAY...AND IF THIS DEVELOPMENT TREND CONTINUES...THEN A SUBTROPICAL DEPRESSION OR A SUBTROPICAL STORM COULD FORM DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO BEFORE THE DISTURBANCE MERGES WITH A COLD FRONT. THIS SYSTEM HAS A MEDIUM CHANCE...30 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A SUBTROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS AS IT MOVES SLOWLY NORTH-NORTHEASTWARD TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING...BEFORE TURNING NORTHEASTWARD AT 10 TO 15 MPH TOWARD SOUTH FLORIDA AND THE FLORIDA KEYS BY MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. REGARDLESS OF DEVELOPMENT... THIS SYSTEM WILL LIKELY BRING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO PORTIONS OF THE FLORIDA KEYS AND SOUTH FLORIDA OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS SYSTEM CAN BE FOUND IN OFFSHORE WATERS FORECASTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIAOFFNT3 AND WMO HEADER FZNT24 KNHC...AND ALSO IN PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE. ADDITIONAL SPECIAL TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOKS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED. ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. $$ FORECASTER STEWART