Special Features

Western and Central Atlantic Gale Warnings,

A Strong Cold Front: A strong cold front moving off the southeast U. S. coast on Thu is going to produce widespread fresh to strong SW to NW winds off eastern Florida and over the Bahamas. By Thu evening, these winds near 30N76W will reach gale force, along with 9 to 11 ft seas. As the cold front pushes farther eastward Fri and Fri night, gale- force winds will spread into the central Atlantic, north of 28N between 60W and 70W. Peak seas will also build to between 12 and 15 ft. This area of gale-force winds and very rough seas will shift farther eastward on Sat, and then northeastward to north of 31N on Sat night.

A Deepening Low Pressure: A low pressure is expected to enter the Atlantic along the North Carolina coast on Fri night, then rapidly deepen as it track eastward into the western Atlantic. It will produce a large area of westerly gale-force winds north of 28N between 62W and 72W. Seas will peak at 12 to 18 ft. These winds and seas are going to move eastward, to north of 26N between 54W and 70W on Sun with seas build higher to between 22 and 29 ft. Once the low has pulled farther northeastward into the north-central Atlantic, conditions should gradually starting Sun night.

Central Atlantic Significant Swell Event: Seas at 12 to 16 ft in large NW swell, north of 27N and east of 45W will continue to slide eastward through Thu night, and shift east of 35W by early Fri morning.

Please read the latest High Seas and Offshore Waters Forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center at websites: https: //www. nhc. noaa. gov/text/MIAHSFAT2. shtml and https: //www. nhc. noaa. gov/marine/offshores. php for more details on all three events above.

Monsoon Trough Itcz

A monsoon trough enters the Atlantic along the coast of Sierra Leone near Freetown, then curves southwestward to 03N20W. An ITCZ continues west-southwestward from 03N20W to 00N38W. Scattered moderate convection is occurring near both features from 00N to 05N between 10W and 32W.

Gulf Of America

A cold front curves southwestward from the eastern Florida Panhandle to north of Tampico, Mexico. Scattered showers are occurring near and up to 150 nm south of this feature, including northern Florida. Fresh to strong N to NNE winds and seas of 6 to 9 ft are seen north of this front. Gentle to moderate SW to NW winds and seas at 3 to 5 ft prevail south of the front.

For the forecast, the front and associated winds and seas are forecast to move southward across the Gulf waters through late Thu morning. Winds and seas will begin to diminish across the Gulf area from west to east Thu night into Fri as high pressure settles over the NW Gulf. Then, high pressure will remain in control of the weather pattern across the basin through Mon

Caribbean Sea

A surface trough is triggering scattered moderate convection near the Cayman Islands. Fresh to locally strong easterly trades with 8 to 10 ft seas are seen at the south-central basin. Moderate to fresh E winds and seas at 6 to 8 ft are evident for the north- central and near the ABC Islands, and over the Gulf of Honduras. Gentle NE to ESE winds and seas of 4 to 6 ft prevail elsewhere on Haiti. .

For the forecast, a cold front, currently moving across the Gulf of America, will reach the northwestern Caribbean late on Thu morning and will merge with a surface trough that currently is along the Nicaragua offshore waters. Fresh to strong N winds and building seas will follow this front, forecast to reach from eastern Cuba to the Gulf of Honduras Thu night and from Haiti to Panama Fri morning where it will start to weaken. Fresh to strong N winds with rough seas in the SW Caribbean associated with the front will persist through Sat, diminishing to moderate to fresh Sat night into Sun.

Atlantic Ocean

Please see the Special Features section for details on two Gale Warnings and Significant Swell.

A cold front reaches from 30N25W to 22N50W where it transitions to stationary while extending to beyond the Leeward Islands. Fresh to strong winds are on either side of the front north of 27N between 20W and 50W, with fresh to strong NE winds also south of 27N within about 120 nm west of the front. Associated seas of 8 ft or greater are north of a line from 28N13W to 20N42W to the Mona Passage and east of about 67W.

High pressure of 1020 mb is southeast of the front near 25N25W. Moderate to fresh trades are south of 20N with gentle to moderate anticyclonic winds elsewhere east of the front. Seas are 6 to 9 ft east of front away from the rough seas area described in the Special Features section. A 1024 mb high is west of the front near 29N63W. Winds are mainly gentle to moderate and anticyclonic under the high from 27N to 30N and west of 55W with moderate to locally fresh winds across the remainder of the waters west of the front. Seas are 3 to 7 ft west of about 67W.

For the forecast west of 55W, the stationary front over the far SE offshore waters will remain nearly stationary through tonight, then begin to lift north on Thu while weakening. Another cold front will move off northeastern Florida on Thu. Please read the Special Features for Gale Warnings. The front will reach from near Bermuda to Hispaniola by Fri morning, and from 25N55W to Puerto Rico on Sat. In addition, a strong low pressure building north of the forecast region could bring another round of gale winds to the western Atlantic this weekend.

Chan Posted about 2 hours ago by NHC Forecaster