000 AGXX40 KNHC 191944 MIMATS MARINE WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 245 PM EST WED NOV 19 2008 MARINE WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR GULF OF MEXICO... CARIBBEAN SEA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH ATLC S OF 31N W OF 55W. RADIOFAX SCHEDULE FOR GRAPHICAL WIND WAVE...SURFACE FORECAST AND PEAK WAVE PERIOD CHARTS HAS CHANGED. FOR THE ATLANTIC BASIN THIS INCLUDES 24...36...48 AND 72 HOUR WIND WAVE..24...48..72 HOUR SURFACE FORECAST AND 48 AND 72 HOUR PEAK WAVE PERIOD CHARTS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE REFER TO THE FAX SCHEDULE ON THE NHC WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV/RADIOFAX.SHTML GULF OF MEXICO... A QUIKSCAT PASS FROM 11450 UTC THIS MORNING SHOWED NE WINDS OF MAINLY 20 KT OVER THE SE PART OF THE MIDDLE GULF WITH A NE 25 KT WIND BARBS NEAR AND THROUGH THE YUCATAN CHANNEL. E GULF BUOY AND SHIP OBSERVATIONS ARE REPORTING NE 20 KT WINDS AS OF THE LATEST AVAILABLE OBSERVATIONS. ELSEWHERE WINDS ARE N-NE 10-15 KT...EXCEPT VARIABLE 5-10 KT OVER THE NW PORTION WITH SEAS IN THE 2-4 FT RANGE...AND DOWN TO 1 FT IN THE FAR NW WATERS. A DRY COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM W CUBA TO CENTRAL TEXAS WILL EXIT HE GULF TONIGHT AS STRONG CONTINENTAL HIGH PRES THAT SETTLES IN OVER THE GULF THROUGH SAT ALLOWING FOR SURGES OF MODERATE N-NE WINDS TO CONTINUE OVER MUCH OF THE MIDDLE AND EASTERN GULF WITH WINDS BECOMING MORE NE-E IN DIRECTION OVER WESTERN HALF SAT AND SUN AS THE HIGH SHIFTS TO ENE TO THE MID-ATLC COAST BY SUN. SEAS WILL BE AT RATHER ELEVATED HEIGHTS OVER THE SE AND S CENTRAL PORTIONS THROUGH THU MORNING BEFORE DIMINISHING THROUGH FRI THEN BUILDING ONCE AGAIN FRI THROUGH SAT AND DIMINISHING LATE SAT OVER ALL ZONES BUT THE SE GULF THROUGH MON. RETURN FLOW SETS UP OVER THE W GULF MON AHEAD OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO E TEXAS. CARIBBEAN AND TROPICAL N ATLC... STATIONARY FRONT STRETCHES FROM THE WINDWARD PASSAGE SW TO JUST E OF JAMAICA AND TO NORTHERN COSTA RICA. A PARTIAL QUIKSCAT PASS FROM 1142 UTC THIS MORNING SHOWED NUMEROUS N 30 KT WIND VECTORS W OF THE FRONT TO 84W S OF 20N. SEVERAL RAIN-FLAGGED VECTORS OF 30-35 KT WERE NOTED OVER THE FAR SW CARIBBEAN SEA. NOAA BUOY REPORTED NE 30 KT WINDS DURING THE MORNING UP UNTIL NEAR 1600 UTC BEFORE DECREASING TO 25 KT. IN ADDITION...SHIPS WITH CALL LETTER SIGNS OF A8BZ6 AND 3FPO9 NEAR 19N83W AND 19N79W JUST RECENTLY REPORTED NE WINDS NEAR 30 KT. SO BASED ON THIS INFORMATION...WILL HANG TO CURRENT FORECAST WORDING OF NE 20-30 KT BEHIND FRONT THROUGH THU NIGHT AS A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT SWEEPS INTO THE NW CARIBBEAN FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO MERGING WITH THE STATIONARY FRONT TONIGHT...AND EXTEND FROM THE NE CARIBBEAN SEA TO THE SW CARIBBEAN SEA BY WED MORNING...THEN WEAKEN FROM NEAR THE MONA PASSAGE TO NORTHERN PANAMA THU AND BECOMES DIFFUSED OVER THE E CARIBBEAN FRI. SEAS WILL MAX OUT UP TO 14 OR 15 FT THIS EVENING IN THE SW CARIBBEAN SEA NEAR THE HONDURAN COAST...THEN SLOWLY SUBSIDE TO 9-10 FT FRI. SEAS ELSEWHERE W OF FRONT S OF 20N WILL BE IN THE 8-12 FT RANGE THROUGH TONIGHT...THEN DECREASE TO 6-8 THU THROUGH FRI NIGHT BEFORE BUILDING AGAIN UP TO 8-11 FT SAT AND SUN AND DECREASING SOME MON. WINDS ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN AND TROPICAL N ATLC ARE RATHER LIGHT (NE-E 10-15 KT)...BUT SHOULD INCREASE TO 15-20 KT IN THE TROPICAL N ATLC N OF ABOUT 16N AND FAR E CARIBBEAN SEA BEGINNING FRI NIGHT THROUGH MON...AND DECREASE SOME OVER THE TROPICAL N ATLC MON AS CENTRAL ATLC HIGH PRES RETREATS NE. THE PRES GRADIENT RESULTING FROM THE COMBINATION OF A TROPICAL WAVE ALONG 71W IS BRINGING NE-E WINDS OF 15-20 KT ACROSS A SWATH OF THE TROPICAL N ATLC WATERS FROM 11 TO 17N. THESE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TO 10 KT BY WED MORNING AS THE HIGH PRES RETREATS NE AND THE TROPICAL WAVE CONTINUES TO PULL FURTHER TO THE W. SEAS IN THIS AREA ARE IN THE 4-6 FT RANGE. SCATTERED TSTMS ARE NOTED ONCE AGAIN S OF 13N W OF 79W MAINLY DUE TO LOW LEVEL SPEED CONVERGENCE IN THAT AREA SE OF THE FRONT. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD LAST THROUGH WED NIGHT. SW N ATLC... THE TWO MAIN FEATURES OF INTEREST ARE A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING FROM 31N61W TO WINDWARD PASSAGE...AND FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WHICH EXTENDS FROM 25N76W TO INLAND ACROSS 31N72W TO INLAND CENTRAL FLORIDA. A QUIKSCAT PASS FROM THIS MORNING AND OBSERVATIONS FROM SHIP "WPGK" NEAR 28N71.5W AT 1200 UTC THIS MORNING PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF A MARGINAL GALE WARNINGS OF WINDS 30-35 KT N OF 27N W OF THE COLD FRONT TO 72W. ALSO BUOY 41048 N OF THE AREA NEAR 32N70W JUST RECENTLY INDICATED GALE FORCE WINDS WHICH HAVE TRANSLATED TO S OF 31N BEHIND THE FRONT. THESE WINDS SHOULD LAST THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING TO W OF 70W BEFORE DECREASING TO 25-30 KT. SEAS IN THE WARNING AREA ARE RANGING FROM 13 TO 20 FT...WITH THE HIGHEST OF THE SEAS ALONG AND N OF 30N W OF THE FRONT. EXPECT THESE LARGE SEAS TO SPREAD FURTHER SE INTO THE AREA THROUGH THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH FRI WHERE THE HIGHEST SEAS WILL MORE CONFINED TO THE E AND SE SECTIONS OF THE AREA. ELSEWHERE NW OF THE COLD FRONT TO 76W...WINDS ARE NW 20-30 KT WITH SEAS 10-16 FT. OVER REMAINDER OF AREA W OF THE FRONTS S OF 28N WINDS ARE N-NE 15-20 KT...EXCEPT NE 20-25 KT S OF 24N WHERE SEAS ARE 8-13 FT EXCEPT 6-9 FT SW OF BAHAMAS. TO THE SE OF THE STATIONARY FRONT...WINDS ARE GENERALLY E-SE 10-15 KT...EXCEPT N OF 26N WHERE WINDS ARE S-SW 10 KT WITH SEAS 4-6 FT...AND TO 8 FT N OF 26N. THE COLD FRONT WILL MERGE WITH THE STATIONARY FRONT EARLY THIS EVENING FROM 25N64W TO HAITI...THEN MOVE E OF THE AREA THU EXCEPT FOR THE SOUTHERN PORTION WHICH WILL LAG BEHIND AND WEAKEN OVER THE FAR SE WATERS THROUGH FRI AND EVENTUALLY BECOME DIFFUSE. STRONG HIGH PRES WILL BUILD ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA FROM THE NW WITH YET ANOTHER COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO LEAD THE ONSET OF THIS HIGH PRES AREA BEGINNING FRI WITH STRONG NW WINDS AND LARGE SEAS...POSSIBLY UP TO 12 FT PER LATEST NOAA WAVEWATCH GUIDANCE...LATE FRI AND SAT WITH N WINDS OF 25-30 KT OVER THE FAR W PART BY SAT. WINDS DIMINISH SOME SUN AND MON OVER THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN SECTIONS AS STRONG HIGH CENTERED N OF THE REGION MOVES E AND WEAKENS. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NE IN THE 20-30 KT RANGE OVER THE REST OF THE FORECAST WATERS SUN AND MON. ATLANTIC... GALE WARNING N OF 28N W OF COLD FRONT TO 70W TIL 00Z. CARIBBEAN... NONE. GULF OF MEXICO... .NONE. FORECASTER AGUIRRE. TROPICAL PREDICTION CENTER.