000 AXPZ20 KNHC 282252 TWDEP Tropical Weather Discussion NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL 2205 UTC Thu Jan 28 2021 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 1800 UTC surface analysis and satellite imagery through 2100 UTC. ...SPECIAL FEATURES... Gulf of Tehuantepec Gale Warning: The pressure gradient between high pressure along the eastern slopes of Mexico and the eastern north Pacific monsoon trough is supporting gale force northerly gap winds in the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Winds will reach strong gale-force tonight. This event will generate very large seas, which will peak around 20 ft tonight and Fri. Seas generated from this gap wind event will propagate well away from the source region, with seas greater than 8 ft spreading as far west as 110W by Fri night. Gale-force winds are forecast to persist through early Sat morning. Looking ahead, another gale- force gap wind event is possible Sun night into early next week. Please see the latest High Seas Forecast at http://nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAHSFEP2.shtml for more details. ...INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE/MONSOON TROUGH... The monsoon trough extends from 09N77W to 08N85W to 05N92W. The ITCZ extends from 05N92W TO 07N112W TO 05N140W. Scattered moderate isolated strong convection was noted from 05N to 09N between 130W and 140W. OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF MEXICO... Please see the Special Features section for details on a Gale Warning for the Gulf of Tehuantepec region. Outside of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, winds are in the light to gentle range across the forecast waters. Seas are in the 6-8 ft range across much of the open waters. The one exception is over the waters offshore Baja California Norte where NW swell has propagated into the area with seas in the 9-12 ft range. The large NW swell off Baja California Norte will spread southward west of the Baja California peninsula through Sat morning. This swell will subside this weekend. Another set of NW swell will reach the waters off Baja California Norte Mon night. Fresh to strong SW winds are expected in the northern Gulf of California on Fri. Fresh to strong NW winds are possible in the central and southern Gulf of California Sun. OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA, and WITHIN 750 NM OF ECUADOR... Fresh to strong winds prevail across the Gulf of Papagayo, with moderate to fresh winds in the Gulf of Panama. Light to gentle winds are noted elsewhere. Seas are in the 5-7 ft range in Gulf of Papagayo, and 3-5 ft elsewhere. Fresh to strong offshore winds will prevail across the Papagayo region through Sat night, then will pulse through early next week. Fresh to strong winds will prevail in the Gulf of Panama through early Sun, with seas building to 9 ft. Gentle to moderate winds are expected elsewhere. Large seas generated by gale force winds in the Tehuantepec region will spread into the offshore waters of Guatemala and El Salvador tonight through early Sat. REMAINDER OF THE AREA... A cold front extends across the northern part of the discussion area from 30N122W to 24N131W, with seas reaching 16 ft north of the front. The large NW swell associated with the front will spread south- southeastward across the forecast region over the next couple of days. The pressure gradient between weak high pressure analyzed near 23N120W and lower pressures in the vicinity of the ITCZ is supporting gentle to moderate NE trade winds north of the ITCZ to 20N, west of 120W. Seas in this area are in the 8 to 9 ft range. Trade winds will increase Friday as high pressure builds north of the area behind the cold front. Another set of NW swell will propagate into the NW waters on Sunday. $$ AL