000 AGXX40 KNHC 180815 MIMATS Marine Weather Discussion NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL 415 AM EDT Mon Mar 18 2019 Marine Weather Discussion for the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Tropical North Atlantic from 07N to 19N between 55W and 64W and the Southwest North Atlantic including the Bahamas ...GULF OF MEXICO... The cold front of the previous days has become stationary from just north of the northwestern coast of Cuba to 23N88W to a weak 1016 mb low at 22N94W and southeast from there to just inland the coast of Mexico at 19N91W. Strong high pressure is present to the northwest and north of the front/low. A recent Ascat pass revealed strong to near gale force northwest winds over the far SW Gulf where the gradient is the tightest between the front/low and the aforementioned high pressure that is ridging southward along eastern Mexico. Winds elsewhere across the Gulf are in the strong range and northeast in direction. Per latest buoy reports, seas across the Gulf are in the 4-6 ft range, except for much higher seas of 8-11 ft in the SW Gulf with the strong to near gale force northwester winds. Seas are low, in the 2-4 ft range in the far northwest, north-central and northeast sections of the Gulf. The stationary front is forecast to begin top move southeast as cold front again on Tue as the weak low pressure tracks east- northeast along it and the high pressure over the area shifts eastward and weakens. Expect for the gradient to slowly slacken through Tue night allowing for winds across the area to diminish to mainly fresh speeds, with still some pockets of winds locally gusting to strong speeds over the eastern Gulf at that time. The current 4-6 ft seas will build to 8-10 ft on Tue before subsiding on Wed. The seas of 8-11 ft in the SW Gulf will subside to less than 8 ft on Tue night. A new area of high pressure will build southward over the area beginning on Thu and through Fri night. This will bring generally moderate to fresh winds in anticyclonic fashion across the Gulf, with lighter winds of gentle speeds over far NW and north-central sections. ...CARIBBEAN SEA AND TROPICAL N ATLANTIC FROM 07N TO 19N BETWEEN 55W AND 64W... High pressure centered to the southeast of Bermuda near 29N55W will support fresh to strong trade winds across much of the central Caribbean Sea through early Wednesday, before the high moves E and wind speeds diminish for the remainder of the week. Trade winds will are pulsing to minimal gale-force along the coast of Colombia. These winds diminish to juts below gale later this morning and pulse back up to gale tonight into early on Tue. Moderate to fresh trade winds will continue across the remainder of the area through Fri. ...SW N ATLANTIC INCLUDING THE BAHAMAS... A cold front extends from near 31N70W to weak low pressure of 1015 mb at 30N73W, and continues from the low to 24N80W, where it becomes stationary to along the northwest coast of Cuba and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. The cold front will begin to move slowly southeastward this morning, reaching from near 31N65W to the Straits of Florida on Tue morning, from near 27N65W to northwest Cuba by early on Tue night, from near 26N65W to central Cuba on Wed, then begin to weaken as it reaches from near 25N65W to east-central Cuba on Thu and become stationary through Fri night. Strong northerly winds will cover just about the entire western half of the basin from tonight through Tue, and then become strong northeast winds across the basin, north of 24N on Wed, before shifting to the east of 70W on Wed night and Thu. Expect for seas to reach around 11 ft between the Florida coast and 80W Tue through Wed. Seas of 8-10 ft in a north to northeast swell will propagate through the waters north of 30N and east of 77W beginning on Tue before shifting to east of 70W on Thu while decaying. A cold front will move across the area from Thu through Fri followed by fresh to possibly locally strong west to northwest winds. $$ .WARNINGS...Any changes impacting coastal NWS offices will be coordinated through AWIPS II Collaboration Chat, or by telephone: .GULF OF MEXICO... None. .CARIBBEAN SEA AND TROPICAL N ATLANTIC FROM 07N TO 19N BETWEEN 55W AND 64W... .AMZ031...CARIBBEAN FROM 11N TO 15N BETWEEN 72W AND 80W INCLUDING COLOMBIA BASIN... Gale Warning within 90 nm of coast of Colombia through early this morning and again tonight into early Tue morning. .SW N ATLANTIC INCLUDING THE BAHAMAS... None. $$ *For detailed zone descriptions, please visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/abouttafbprod.shtml#OWF Note: gridded marine forecasts are available in the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/marine/grids.php For additional information, please visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/marine $$ .Forecaster Aguirre. National Hurricane Center.