000 AXNT20 KNHC 162359 TWDAT Tropical Weather Discussion NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL 758 PM EDT Mon Mar 16 2020 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 1800 UTC surface analysis and satellite imagery through 2345 UTC. ...SPECIAL FEATURES... ...SOUTH-CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA GALE WARNING... Gale force winds are expected each night near the coast of N Colombia through Sat with sea heights to 12 ft. Please read the latest High Seas Forecast issued by the National Hurricane Center under AWIPS/WMO headers MIAHSFAT2/HSFAT2 KNHC or at website https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAHSFAT2.shtml for further details. ...FAR EAST ATLANTIC GALE WARNING... Gale force winds continue near the coast of Morocco in the marine zone of Agadir. Gale conditions will continue in this area through Tuesday morning. Please refer to the Meteo-France High Seas Forecast listed on their website: www.meteofrance.com /previsions-meteo-marine/bulletin/grandlarge/metarea2 for further details. ...MONSOON TROUGH/ITCZ... The monsoon trough passes through the coastal sections of Guinea near 09N13W to 04N17W. The ITCZ extends from 04N18W to 00N30W to 00N38W. A surface trough is analyzed from 00N43W to 05N42W. Scattered moderate convection is from 00N to 04N between 15W and 30W, and from 04S to 08N between 36W and 51W. GULF OF MEXICO... Weak surface ridging dominates the basin supporting gentle to locally moderate ESE winds, except for the SW Gulf where a surface trough extends from 24N94W to the western Bay of Campeche. Low level precipitable waters imagery show shallow moisture along the coast of Louisiana and Texas, and adjacent NW Gulf waters. Upper level diffluence in this region continue to support scattered showers extending to NE Mexico adjacent waters. Patchy fog continues to be reported in this region as well, which is expected to prevail through Tue morning. Middle to upper level ridging support fair weather conditions elsewhere. Surface ridging and moderate to locally fresh return flow is forecast for the Gulf waters through Fri evening when the next cold front is forecast to come off the coast of Texas. Fair weather conditions are expected during this period. CARIBBEAN SEA... Gentle to moderate NE to E winds dominate the Caribbean waters, except for fresh NE winds in the Windward Passage and along the coast of Colombia. With high pressure dominating the Atlc waters N of the region, fresh to strong winds are expected to continue along Colombia through Sat, increasing to gale force during the night hours. See the special features section above. Also, strong winds will pulse through the Windward Passage and south of Hispaniola each night through Fri. Expect increasing winds in the lee of Cuba Wed night into Thu, and east of the Leeward Islands Thu night through Fri night as the high pressure strengthens north of the area. Otherwise, an area of low pressure currently NE of Puerto Rico will weaken into a surface trough tonight. The surface trough will then move westward across the eastern Caribbean through Tue night supporting showers across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. ATLANTIC OCEAN... A weak low pressure centered near 30N73W extends a trough to the east of the central Bahamas with isolated showers ahead of the trough to about 68W. This low is expected to move N of the area tonight. Farther east the tail of a cold front extends from 30N58W to 28N66W. Scattered showers and isolated tstms are ahead of the front N of 26N between 49W and 60W with isolated showers extending to 66W. To the south of the front and NE of Puerto Rico, a low centered near 19N62W will weaken into a surface trough tonight. The trough is expected to move westward across the eastern Caribbean afterwards. Isolated showers are within 120 nm of the low center. Otherwise, surface ridging dominate the remainder central and eastern Atlc waters with fair weather. The cold front will continue to drift ESE and dissipate over the north-central Atlc waters through Thu night. $$ Ramos