000 AXNT20 KNHC 130553 TWDAT TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 105 AM EST TUE DEC 13 2011 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR NORTH AMERICA...CENTRAL AMERICA...GULF OF MEXICO...CARIBBEAN SEA...NORTHERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA...AND ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE AFRICAN COAST FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...RADAR...AND METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS. BASED ON 0000 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 0515 UTC. ...ITCZ/MONSOON TROUGH... THE MONSOON TROUGH EXTENDS FROM THE AFRICAN COAST NEAR 07N12W TO 05N16W. THE INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE AXIS EXTENDS FROM 05N16W TO 05N30W TO 05N43W. NO SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION IS NOTED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY. ...DISCUSSION... GULF OF MEXICO... WEST-NORTHWESTERLY UPPER LEVEL FLOW IS NOTED ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY ON THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ACROSS THE SOUTH-CENTRAL CONUS WITH AXIS ALONG 95W. MOSTLY DRY AIR AND OVERALL SUBSIDENCE IS NOTED WITH THIS UPPER LEVEL FEATURE ACROSS THE GULF WHILE IT SUPPORTS A SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDING FROM THE MID-ATLC STATES SOUTHWESTWARD FROM THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE NEAR 30N85W TO THE SW GULF NEAR 20N97W. WITH E TO SE FLOW NOTED OVER PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN GULF...A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE W OF 90W THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. OTHERWISE...THE SURFACE RIDGE IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN MOSTLY STATIONARY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...SHIFT EAST INTO THE SW NORTH ATLC THURSDAY...AND ALLOW A WEAK COLD FRONT TO EMERGE OFF THE TEXAS AND LOUISIANA GULF COAST BY LATE THURSDAY. CARIBBEAN SEA... AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES TO INFLUENCE MUCH OF THE CARIBBEAN THIS EVENING WITH AXIS EXTENDING FROM OVER VENEZUELA NEAR 07N66W TO OVER EASTERN CUBA NEAR 20N76W. THIS ALONG WITH A RELATIVELY WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE BASIN IS PROVIDING FOR OVERALL BENIGN CONDITIONS EVERYWHERE EXCLUDING THE SW GULF. ON THE WESTERN PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE...SOUTHERLY DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES TO SUSTAIN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS S OF 15N BETWEEN 71W-85W...INCLUDING PORTIONS OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA...PANAMA...COSTA RICA...AND NICARAGUA. MOST OF THIS CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS FOCUSED ALONG THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS WHICH EXTENDS FROM THE E PACIFIC INTO THE SW CARIBBEAN ALONG 11N. LOOKING AHEAD...NE TRADES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN STRONGEST OVER THE NW CARIBBEAN THROUGH THURSDAY AND THEN SPREAD EASTWARD AS STRONGER SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN ACROSS THE SW NORTH ATLC WATERS. ATLANTIC OCEAN... UPPER LEVEL WESTERLY FLOW IS NOTED OVER THE SW NORTH ATLC BETWEEN AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE TO THE SOUTH OVER THE CARIBBEAN SEA AND WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGHING LOCATED N OF 32N OVER THE NW NORTH ATLC WATERS. MOSTLY DRY AIR AND STABLE CONDITIONS ARE NOTED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY W OF 65W AS A 1033 MB HIGH REMAINS ANCHORED OVER THE MID-ATLC STATES NEAR 38N78W. NE WINDS IN THE RANGE OF 20 TO 25 KT RESULT AS A PRODUCT OF AN INCREASED PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THIS HIGH AND SURFACE TROUGHING N OF 20N BETWEEN 60W-70W. THE ANALYZED SURFACE TROUGH IS LOCATED FROM 20N63W TO 32N65W WITH LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE EAST OF THE AXIS GENERATING A BROAD AREA OF ISOLATED SHOWERS FROM 13N-24N BETWEEN 48W-62W...AND FROM 24N-32N BETWEEN 55W-62W. THE REMAINDER OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ATLC IS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A SURFACE RIDGE ANCHORED BY A 1032 MB HIGH CENTERED NEAR 34N35W. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.HURRICANES.GOV/MARINE $$ HUFFMAN