000 AXPZ20 KNHC 270320 TWDEP TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 0405 UTC FRI FEB 27 2015 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 0000 UTC SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 0300 UTC. ...SPECIAL FEATURE... GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC GALE WARNING... GALE FORCE N-NE WINDS CONTINUE OVER THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC AND ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH SUN MORNING. MAX SEAS WILL PEAK NEAR 19 FT TONIGHT. SWELL GENERATED BY THIS GAP WIND EVENT WILL MIX WITH ENE SWELL DOWNSTREAM FROM PAPAGAYO IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND LARGE LONG PERIOD NW SWELL TO PRODUCE A VERY LARGE AREA OF HIGH SEAS ROUGHLY S OF 15N BETWEEN 90W-105W THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ...INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE... THE ITCZ EXTENDS FROM 02N93W TO 00N140W. NO SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION. ...DISCUSSION... WEAK HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER NORTHERN WATERS NEAR 32N132W EXTENDS A MINOR RIDGE SE TO NEAR 20N110W. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE AND LOWER PRESSURE IN THE VICINITY OF THE ITCZ IS SUPPORTING MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH TRADE WINDS N OF THE CONVERGENCE ZONE. A DISSIPATED FRONT HAS HELPED USHER IN A FRESH SET OF NW SWELLS OVER NW WATERS WITH 10- 17 FT SEAS COVERING THE WATERS NW OF A LINE FROM 30N125W TO 07N140W. A LARGE AREA OF SEAS GREATER THAN 8 FT COVER THE WATERS GENERALLY W OF 100W. THIS AREA OF HIGH SEAS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. GAP WINDS... STRONG HIGH PRES NNE OF THE AREA HAS HELPED GENERATE A GULF OF PAPAGAYO GAP WIND EVENT WITH STRONG TO NEAR GALE WINDS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA FOR MUCH OF THE WEEKEND. THIS EVENT IS COVERING A LARGE ENOUGH AREA THAT THE GULF OF FONSECA IS ALSO AFFECTED BY WINDS 25 KT OR GREATER. THESE STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH SEAS BUILDING TO 11-12 FT. LATEST GFS MODEL GUIDANCE SHOWS SMALL AREA MAX WINDS TO 35 KT SUN AFTERNOON NEAR THE COAST IN THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO. WILL WAIT TO SEE IF OTHER GLOBAL MODELS FALL IN LINE WITH GFS BEFORE ISSUING GALE WARNING. NE SWELLS GENERATED FROM THIS EVENT WILL PROPAGATE WESTWARD FROM THE REGION AND MIX WITH THE NE SWELLS GENERATED FROM THE GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC GAP WIND EVENT. 20-25 KT WINDS ARE EXPECTED OVER AND DOWNWIND OF THE GULF OF PANAMA THIS EVENING WITH SEAS BUILDING TO NEAR 9-10 FT SAT. $$ MUNDELL