000 AXPZ20 KNHC 200920 TWDEP TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1005 UTC THU DEC 19 2013 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 0900 UTC. ...INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE/MONSOON TROUGH... MONSOON TROUGH AXIS EXTENDS FROM 08N78W TO 07N90W TO 06N99W... WHERE IT TRANSITIONS TO THE ITCZ TO 08N115W TO 09N127W TO 09N140W. SCATTERED MODERATE FROM 11N TO 13N BETWEEN 123W AND 128W...AND FROM 09N TO 12N BETWEEN 128W AND 132W. ...DISCUSSION... A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT HAS PUSHED INTO THE N WATERS AND NOW EXTENDS NORTHERN BAJA CALIFORNIA NEAR 30N115W TO 25N125W TO 26N140W. A LARGE AND STRONG AREA OF HIGH PRES...ANALYZED 1036 MB NEAR 40N139W ON THE 0600 UTC SURFACE MAP...IS NOTED IN THE WAKE OF FRONT. THE ASSOCIATED TIGHT PRES GRADIENT IS SUPPORTING NW TO N WINDS OF 20-30 KT N OF THE FRONT WITH SEAS OF 8-12 FT E OF 120W. MUCH LARGER SEAS OF 10-16 FT IN NW SWELL ARE BEHIND THE FRONT BETWEEN 120W AND 130W WITH SEAS OF 8 TO 11 FT W OF 130W. THE FRONT IS FORECAST TO DISSIPATE IN ABOUT 24 HOURS WITH A FRONTAL TROUGH MOVING ACROSS NW MEXICO LATE FRI. THE NW TO N WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH THROUGH SAT AS THE PRES GRADIENT ATTRIBUTED TO THE STRONG HIGH PRES N OF THE AREA SLACKENS SOME. LARGE NLY SWELLS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL SLOWLY SUBSIDE TO 10-12 FT BY FRI NIGHT...AND TO 8-11 FT BY SAT NIGHT. A STRONG SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDS INTO THE AREA FROM THE ABOVE MENTIONED 1036 MB HIGH PRES. PRES GRADIENT BETWEEN THE HIGH AND LOWER PRESSURE ALONG THE ITCZ IS PRODUCING FRESH TO STRONG TRADE WINDS BETWEEN THE RIDGE AND ITCZ...PARTICULARLY FROM 10N TO 25N W OF 130W. THE GRADIENT WILL RELAX SOME THROUGH SAT NIGHT AS HIGH PRES MOVES S AND SLIGHTLY WEAKENS. LONG PERIOD NW SWELLS...WAVE PERIODS BETWEEN 20-22 SEC...WILL REACH THE FAR NW CORNER LATE TODAY AND PROPAGATE ACROSS THE NW WATERS ON SAT...REACHING THE REMAINDER OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA SAT NIGHT. MOST OF THE DISCUSSION AREA W OF 115W WILL BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THIS SWELL EVENT BY SUN NIGHT. GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC...THE RECENT LONG DURATION GALE EVENT ACROSS THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC ENDED. RECENT SCATTEROMETER DATA ONLY SHOW NORTHERLY WINDS OF 10-15 KT ACROSS THIS AREA. THE NEXT GAP WIND EVENT IS FORECAST TO BEGIN LATE SUN NIGHT INTO MON WITH WINDS REACHING GALE FORCE AGAIN. THIS NEXT EVENT WILL LIKELY BE ANOTHER STRONG ONE AS MARINE GUIDANCE INDICATES THAT IT WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. GULF OF PAPAGAYO...NE-E WINDS OF 20-25 KT WILL CONTINUE TO BLOW DOWNSTREAM OF PAPAGAYO OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS. THE WINDS ARE GREATEST DURING THE OVERNIGHT AND EARLY MORNING HOURS WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE NOCTURNAL DRAINAGE FLOW...AND SOME ADDED ENHANCEMENT FROM THE EASTERLY GRADIENT FLOW FROM THE CARIBBEAN SEA. GULF OF CALIFORNIA...THE LATEST ASCAT PASS SHOWED SW WINDS OF 20-25 KT OVER THE EXTREME NRN PORTION OF THE GULF AHEAD OF THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT. THESE WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH TODAY AS THE FRONT WEAKENS. HIGH PRES WILL BUILD BACK INTO THE REGION THIS WEEKEND FROM THE NW...AND INCREASE THE PRES GRADIENT TO SUPPORT NW WINDS OF 15-20 KT ACROSS THE ENTIRE GULF OF CALIFORNIA ON SUN EVENING. $$ GR