000 AXNT20 KNHC 272338 TWDAT TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 705 PM EST WED DEC 27 2006 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR NORTH AMERICA... CENTRAL AMERICA...THE GULF OF MEXICO...THE CARIBBEAN SEA... NORTHEASTERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA...AND THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE AFRICAN COAST FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY... METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...AND RADAR. BASED ON 1800 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 2315 UTC. ...THE ITCZ... THE ITCZ IS CENTERED ALONG ...DISCUSSION... THE GULF OF MEXICO... A 1025 MB HIGH IS CENTERED OVER N ALABAMA NEAR 34N86W. 10 KT ELY SURFACE WINDS DOMINATES THE GULF OF MEXICO. BROKEN TO OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS ARE OVER THE GULF E OF 93W. IN THE UPPER LEVELS... THE BASE OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS OVER THE GULF PRODUCING MAINLY WLY FLOW AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE. EXPECT... 10-15 KT SELY SURFACE WINDS AND FAIR WEATHER DUE TO HIGH PRESSURE RETURN FLOW BY THURSDAY EVENING. THE CARIBBEAN SEA... COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM E CUBA TO THE SW CARIBBEAN SEA ALONG 21N76W 12N81W. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE WITHIN 60 NM OF THE FRONT. BROKEN TO OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS ARE BEHIND THE FRONT OVER THE NW CARIBBEAN...NICARAGUA...AND HONDURAS. FURTHER S... ISOLATED MODERATE CONVECTION IS OVER N COLOMBIA AND PANAMA FROM 7N-10N BETWEEN 72W-84W. IN THE UPPER LEVELS... MOSTLY WLY ZONAL FLOW IS NOTED OVER THE CARIBBEAN SEA. DRY SUBSIDENCE DOMINATES EXCEPT IN VICINITY OF THE COLD FRONT. EXPECT...SHOWERS OVER CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE W CARIBBEAN SEA OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN... A COLD FRONT IS OVER THE W ATLANTIC FROM 32N64W TO E CUBA NEAR 21N76W. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE WITHIN 60 NM OF THE FRONT. BROKEN TO OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS ARE BEHIND THE FRONT TO THE FLORIDA COAST. A 1024 MB HIGH IS OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC NEAR 29N41W. THE TAIL END OF A COLD FRONT IS OVER THE E ATLANTIC ALONG 32N20W 28N27W 26N34W. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE WITHIN 90 NM OF THE FRONT. IN THE UPPER LEVELS... SWLY FLOW IS OVER THE W ATLANTIC N OF 20N BETWEEN 70W-80W. A LARGE ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION IS CENTERED OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC NEAR 25N50W. ANTICYCLONIC FLOW IS N OF 18N BETWEEN 30W-70W. A TROUGH IS OVER THE E ATLANTIC N OF 10N E OF 30W. A TROPICAL JETSTREAM IS OVER THE E ATLANTIC AND W AFRICA ALONG 6N40W TO BEYOND 20N15W PRODUCING BROKEN HIGH CLOUDS ESPECIALLY OVER THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. $$ FORMOSA