000 AXPZ20 KNHC 180919 TWDEP TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1005 UTC SUN SEP 18 2011 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N...EAST OF 140W. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...WEATHER OBSERVATIONS...RADAR...AND METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS. BASED ON 0600 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 0845 UTC. ...ITCZ/MONSOON TROUGH... THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS EXTENDS W ACROSS PANAMA TO 08N82W TO 10N90W TO 09N95W THEN BREAKING AT 12N100W. THE TROUGH RESUMES FROM 20N110W TO 15N110W TO 09N140W. SCATTERED MODERATE ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTION IS OBSERVED WITHIN 120 NM OF THE COAST BETWEEN 12N AND 16N. SCATTERED MODERATE CONVECTION WITHIN 60 NM EITHER SIDE OF MONSOON TROUGH BETWEEN 115W AND 135W. ...DISCUSSION... N OF 20N...A LOW AMPLITUDE MID TO UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS MIGRATING EASTWARD N OF THE AREA THROUGH ROUGHLY 130W. A RELATED SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDS FROM 1026 MB HIGH PRES THROUGH THE SOUTHERN BAJA PENINSULA. SCATTEROMETER PASSES OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS INDICATE GENERALLY LIGHT TO MODERATE NE SURFACE WINDS...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF OFF THE COAST OF BAJA WHERE 15 TO 20 KT WINDS WERE REPORTED BY SEVERAL SHIPS IN THE PAST HOUR. THIS ENHANCED FLOW IS DUE TO THE SURFACE RIDGE BUILDING EASTWARD WITH THE UPPER RIDGE...TIGHTENING THE GRADIENT AGAINST TROUGHING OVER N CENTRAL MEXICO AND TERRAIN OVER BAJA. S OF 20N W OF 120W...A SURFACE RIDGE N OF THE AREA IS MAINTAINING 15 TO 20 KT TRADE WINDS BETWEEN THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS TO AROUND 15N...AS OBSERVED BY A WINDSAT PASS AT 0230 UTC AND AN EARLIER ASCAT PASS AT 1830 UTC. THE WINDSAT PASS ALSO INDICATED 20 KT S TO SW FLOW TO THE SOUTH OF THE MONSOON TROUGH BETWEEN ROUGHLY 125W AND 135W. THE CONVERGENT FLOW IS RESULTING IN SCATTERED MODERATE SHOWERS AND TSTMS IN THIS AREA AS WELL ALONG THE MONSOON TROUGH. S OF 20N E OF 120W...AN ASCAT PASS FROM AROUND 0400 UTC SHOWS AND PERSISTENT ELONGATED CYCLONIC CENTER ALONG THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS BETWEEN ROUGHLY 105W AND 115W. WHILE NO DISTINCT LOW CENTER AS EMERGED...GLOBAL MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A WEAK LOW PRES AREA DEVELOPING OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS IN THIS AREA AND DRIFTING W ALONG THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS. THE MAIN IMPACT OF THIS WILL BE SW WINDS REACHING 20 KT WITHIN 180 NM ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE MONSOON TROUGH MAINLY BETWEEN 110W AND 130W OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...WITH SEAS TO 9 FT. GIVEN THAT GLOBAL MODELS HAVE BEEN ADVERTISING THIS FEATURE FOR THE PAST COUPLE NIGHTS...BUT THAT IT HAS NOT YET FULLY DEVELOPED...WILL GO BELOW GUIDANCE ON DEVELOPMENT OF WINDS AND SEAS IN THE FORECAST. THE MONSOON TROUGH BREAKS HERE...BUT PICKS UP FURTHER TO THE SE WHERE ANOTHER WEAK LOW IS STARTING TO SLOWLY DEVELOP NEAR 10N93W WHERE LIGHT NW FLOW AT TOGA-TAO BUOY 43301 COMPLIMENTS WELL DEFINED CYCLONIC TURNING JUST TO THE EAST PER THE 0400 UTC ASCAT PASS. SW WINDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH TONIGHT ON THE S SIDE OF THE LOW AS IT DEVELOPS AND DRIFTS W ALONG THE MONSOON TROUGH AXIS. FURTHER NORTH...WINDS HAVE APPROACHED 20 KT THROUGH THE TEHUANTEPEC AREA PER REPORTS FROM SALINA CRUZ ON THE PACIFIC COAST. THE 0400 UTC ASCAT PASS ALSO SHOWED 15 KT IN THIS AREA. THIS IS A LITTLE LESS THAN EXPECTED...BUT GIVEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF WEAK LOW PRES TO THE SOUTH...EXPECT 20 KT FLOW THROUGH TEHUANTEPEC THROUGH MON...WITH DIURNAL MAXIMUMS IN THE EARLY MORNING. $$ CHRISTENSEN