Special Features

Western Atlantic Gale Warning: A strong cold front will move into the waters offshore of northeast Florida this morning, reach from 31N64W to West Palm Beach early Sun morning, from 29N55W to Hispaniola by early Mon morning, stalls from 25N55W to the Dominican Republic early Tue morning before it dissipates late on Wed. Strong high pressure will follow the front. This will bring strong winds, with frequent gusts to gale force, and rough to very rough seas to 14 ft from this morning through early Sun morning.

Please read the latest HIGH SEAS FORECAST issued by the National Hurricane Center at website: https: //www. nhc. noaa. gov/text/MIAHSFAT2. shtml for more details.

Monsoon Trough Itcz

The monsoon trough enters the Atlantic from the coast of Sierra Leone near 08N13W and continues southwestward to 01N24W. The ITCZ then continues from that point to 01S36W. Scattered moderate isolated strong convection is noted within 150 nm either side of both boundaries.

Gulf Of America

A cold front is moving into the northern Gulf this morning. As of 0600 UTC the front extends from the Florida Panhandle to SE Louisiana to Houston, Texas and into NE Mexico where it stalls. Fresh to strong N to NE winds follows the front along with seas to 3 ft per surface observations. Ahead of the front, a surface ridge supports moderate to locally fresh NE winds and moderate seas to 6 ft over the regions of strongest winds, including the Bay of Campeche and the Yucatan Channel.

For the forecast, a trough over the Bay of Campeche will support moderate to fresh winds off the northern and western coasts of the Yucatan Peninsula, mainly at night, through the middle of the next week. The cold front will reach the Tampa Bay area by this evening, and move southeast of the basin on Sun. Fresh to strong NE to E winds and moderate seas are expected in the wake of the front over the northern Gulf this morning and over the eastern Gulf late today through Sun. The pressure gradient will remain strong enough to sustain fresh east winds and moderate to rough seas across the southeast Gulf and the Straits of Florida through the middle of the next week.

Caribbean Sea

The pressure gradient between high pressure north of the basin and the Colombian low is supporting fresh to strong NE to E winds off Colombia and in the Gulf of Venezuela. Seas are in the 5 to 8 ft range over these waters. Moderate to fresh NE to E winds and 4 to 6 ft seas prevail elsewhere across the central and western basin. Gentle to moderate trades are ongoing across the eastern Caribbean with moderate seas. Otherwise, isolated showers remain over the NW Caribbean, including the Windward Passage.

For the forecast, the gradient of pressure between a ridge extending to the northern Caribbean and the low pressure over NW Colombia will continue to support strong to near gale-force NE to E winds and rough seas offshore Colombia through Wed night. Moderate to fresh NE winds in the lee side of Cuba, the Windward Passage, and just south of Hispaniola will reach strong speeds tonight through the end of the forecast period due to strong high pressure building in the wake of cold front that will move through the SW N Atlantic waters today through Wed.

Atlantic Ocean

Please see the SPECIAL FEATURES section for information on a GALE WARNING.

A broad surface ridge continues to extend across the central and eastern subtropical Atlantic waters with a weakness analyzed as a surface trough from 31N58W to 24N63W. Scattered showers are to the east of the trough N of 20N between 45W and 62W. Moderate to locally fresh winds and moderate seas are over the central and eastern basin, except for rough seas to 9 ft in NE decaying swell west of the Canary Islands. Over the SW N Atlantic waters, winds are mainly light to gentle ahead of an approachig cold front, except for moderate to fresh over the Great Bahama Bank, including the approaches of the Windward Passage.

For the forecast west of 55W, a strong cold front will move into the waters offshore of northeast Florida this morning, reach from 31N64W to West Palm Beach early Sun morning, from 29N55W to Hispaniola by early Mon morning, stalls from 25N55W to the Dominican Republic early Tue morning before it dissipates late on Wed. Strong high pressure will follow the front. This will bring strong winds, with frequent gusts to gale force, and rough to very rough seas from this morning through early Sun morning. As the strong high pressure moves eastward across the Atlantic, expect fresh to strong NE to E winds and rough to very rough seas across most of the forecast region likely through Wed. Posted about 2 hours ago by NHC Forecaster Ramos