000 FZNT24 KNHC 180325 OFFNT4 OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1030 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT. GMZ089-180930- SYNOPSIS FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO 1030 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 .SYNOPSIS...TROPICAL STORM FAY S OF CUBA NEAR 21.4N 80.6W 1001 MB AT 10 PM CDT MOVING NW AT 9 KT. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS 45 KT GUSTS 55 KT. FAY WILL FAY WILL GRADUALLY STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVES INLAND OVER CUBA TO 22.3N 81.7W MON MORNING...THEN ACROSS NW CUBA AND INTO THE LOWER STRAITS TO NEAR 23.8N 82.7W MON NIGHT. FAY IS FORECAST TO STRENGTHEN INTO A HURRICANE NEAR 25.3N 82.8W TUE MORNING...AND MOVE TO JUST WEST OF THE FL W COAST 27.0N 82.8W EARLY TUE NIGHT. FAY IS THEN EXPECTED TO MOVE INLAND OVER N CENTRAL FL AS IT WEAKENS BACK TO TROPICAL STORM LATER TUE NIGHT THROUGH WED REACHING SOUTHERN GEORGIA BY EARLY WED EVENING. ELSEWHERE...A WEAK STATIONARY FRONT OVER THE N GULF TODAY WILL BECOME DIFFUSE MON AS HIGH PRES OVER THE NE GULF SHIFTS TO THE NW GULF MON THROUGH THU. $$ GMZ080-180930- NW GULF N OF 25N W OF 90W INCLUDING FLOWER GARDEN BANKS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY 1030 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 .TONIGHT...S OF 28N S TO SW WINDS 10 KT...EXCEPT E TO SE 10 TO TO 15 KT W OF 95W. BECOMING SE TO S. N OF 28N VARIABLE WINDS MAINLY SE TO S 5 TO 10 KT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND TSTMS N OF 27N. .MON AND MON NIGHT...S TO SW WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...EXCEPT 10 TO 15 KT S OF 28N W OF 95W BECOMING SE TO S MON NIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. .TUE AND TUE NIGHT...S OF 28N W OF 93W SE TO S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT. ELSEWHERE VARIABLE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING E TO SE TUE NIGHT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT. .WED...E OF 93W SE TO S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT. W OF 93W S TO SW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT. SCATTERED TSTMS NEAR TEXAS COAST. .THU...S TO SW WINDS 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING SE TO S LATE. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. .FRI...E OF 93W E TO SE WINDS 10 KT OR LESS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT. W OF 93W SE TO S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT. $$ GMZ082-180930- SW GULF S OF 25N W OF 90W 1030 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 .TONIGHT THROUGH THU...E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT...EXCEPT SE 15 TO 20 KT S OF 21N. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT. .FRI...E TO SE WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FT. $$ GMZ084-180930- MIDDLE GULF BETWEEN 85W AND 90W 1030 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 .TONIGHT...S OF 25N NE TO E WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT E OF 87W LATE TONIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT E OF 87W. FROM 25N TO 27N VARIABLE WINDS 10 KT OR LESS. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT. N OF 27N SW TO W WINDS 10 KT OR LESS. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS N OF 27N. .MON AND MON NIGHT...S OF 27N E OF 87W N TO NE WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT. S OF 25N NE TO E WINDS BECOMING N TO NE. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT. N OF 28N S TO SW WINDS 10 KT OR LESS BECOMING VARIABLE LATE. SEAS 2 FT OR LESS. ELSEWHERE VARIABLE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED TSTMS N OF 28N. .TUE AND TUE NIGHT...N OF 25N E OF 87W NW TO N WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT. N OF 25N W OF 87W NW TO N WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. S OF 25N VARIABLE MOSTLY E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. SCATTERED TSTMS FAR E PART SPREADING N. .WED...N OF 26N E OF 86W W TO NW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT. ELSEWHERE N OF 26N W TO NW WINDS 10 TO 15 KT EXCEPT 10 KT OR LESS W OF 87W. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT EXCEPT 1 TO 3 FT W OF 87W. S OF 25N SE TO S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING E TO SE. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. .THU AND FRI...N OF 28N SW TO W WINDS 10 KT OR LESS. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT. FROM 25N TO 28N SE TO S WINDS 10 KT OR LESS BECOMING NE TO E FRI. SEAS 2 FT OR LESS. S OF 25N E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING NE TO E. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. $$ GMZ086-180930- E GULF BETWEEN 81W AND 85W 1030 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 ...TROPICAL STORM WARNING S OF 26N E OF 84W... ...HURRICANE CONDITIONS EXPECTED N OF 25N TUE THROUGH WED... .TONIGHT...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WITHIN 90 NM E SEMICIRCLE OF OF FAY...SPREADING INTO LOWER STRAITS OF FL LATE. HIGHEST WINDS 45 KT GUSTS 55 KT...INCREASING TO 50 KT GUSTS 60 KT S OF AREA LATE. SEAS 12 FT OR GREATER IN AREA OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS...WITH HIGHEST SEAS S OF AREA. ELSEWHERE S OF 26N NE TO E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT...INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 KT LATE. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT...BUILDING TO 6 TO 9 FT LATE. N OF 26N VARIABLE WINDS 5 T0 10 KT...EXCEPT NW TO N N OF 28N. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT. .MON AND MON NIGHT...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WITHIN 90 NM E SEMICIRCLE...30 NM SE AND 45 NM QUADRANTS OF FAY. HIGHEST WINDS INCREASING TO 55 KT GUSTS 65 KT. SEAS 12 FT OR GREATER IN AREA OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS. HIGHEST SEAS 18 FT. ELSEWHERE S OF 27N N TO NE WINDS 20 TO 33 KT. SEAS 8 TO 12 FT. N OF 27N NE TO E WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 4 FT. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SQUALLS S OF 27N. .TUE THROUGH WED....TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WITHIN 120 NM E AND 50 NM W SEMICIRCLE OF FAY. HIGHEST WINDS INCREASING TO 65 KT GUSTS 80 KT...INCREASING TO 70 KT GUSTS TO 85 KT TUE NIGHT BEFORE LANDFALL...CONDITIONS MOVING NE OF AREA LATE WED. SEAS 12 FT OR GREATER IN AREA OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS. HIGHEST SEAS BUILDING TO 24 FT. SEAS SUBSIDING TO 8 TO 12 FT EARLY WED ...SUBSIDING TO 6 TO 9 FT LATE. ELSEWHERE WINDS 20 TO 33 KT... DIMINISHING TO SW TO W 15 TO 20 KT WED...EXCEPT S TO SW 5 TO 10 KT FAR S WATERS WED. SEAS 8 TO 12 FT....SUBSIDING TO 4 TO 6 FT... EXCEPT 2 TO 4 FT FAR S WATERS WED. NUMEROUS SQUALLS N OF 24N SPREADING N. .THU...N OF 27N SW TO W WINDS 10 TO 15 KT...DIMINISHING TO 5 TO 10 KT. SEAS 6 TO 9 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 4 FT LATE. S OF 27N S TO SW WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING NE TO E LATE. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT ...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 2 FT LATE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS FAR NE PART LIFTING N OF AREA LATE. .FRI...NE TO E WINDS 10 KT...EXCEPT 10 TO 15 KT STRAITS OF FL. SEAS 1 TO 2 FT N OF 26N...AND 2 TO 4 FT S OF 26N. $$ FORECASTER KIMBERLAIN/AGUIRRE