Special Features

Gale Warning East of 35W: Meteo-France has issued a GALE WARNING for the Canarias Offshore Zone. The forecast calls for N to NE winds to Force 8 on the Beaufort Wind Scale, with severe gusts between the Canary Islands through at least 28/0000 UTC. Seas currently range from 12 to 15 ft.

For more information, please see the latest HIGH SEAS FORECAST issued by Meteo-France at website: https://wwmiws.wmo.int/index.php/metareas/affiches/2

Central and Eastern Atlantic Significant Swell Event: Seas remain 8 to 11 ft in NW swell across all central and eastern Atlantic waters east of 60W based on several altimeter passes. One of them, shows seas of 10 to 14 ft N of 14N and E of 20W. Another swell event with very rough seas will reach the Madeira and Canary Islands early next week. Widespread fresh to strong trade winds, with surges to near-gale force, will sustain 8 to 11 ft seas elsewhere, as strong subtropical high pressure maintains a tight pressure gradient across the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

Please read the latest NWS High Seas Forecast issued by the National Hurricane Center at website: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAHSFAT2.shtml for more information.

Monsoon Trough/ITCZ

The monsoon trough enters the east Atlantic near 07N12W to 04N18W. The ITCZ continues from that point to 04S39W. Scattered moderate to isolated strong convection is noted S of 04N and E of 29W.

Gulf Of America

Surface ridging prevails across the basin, and provides for moderate to fresh SE to S winds across the basin. Seas are 6 to 8 ft across the northern half of the Gulf, and 4 to 6 ft elsewhere.

For the forecast, moderate to fresh southerly return flow across the west and central portions of the Gulf will gradually diminish tonight ahead of the next cold front forecast to enter the NW Gulf early Fri. This front is expected to sink slowly southward across the north half of the Gulf Fri through Sat night and gradually dissipate. High pressure N of the Gulf will build back across the basin Sun into early next week.

Caribbean Sea

High pressure N of the area combined with the Colombian low supports fresh to strong trade winds over the central Caribbean, with the strongest winds offshore Colombia. Seas are 8 to 9 ft with the strongest winds. Moderate to fresh trades and moderate seas dominate the eastern Caribbean while mainly moderate SE winds with moderate seas are noted over the NW part of the basin. Seas are locally higher, to 8 ft, within Atlantic Passage between the Lesser Antilles and the Mona Passage, due to long period northerly swell from the Atlantic.

For the forecast, the broad ridge over the central Atlantic will continue to extend into the Caribbean Sea through the forecast period, supporting fresh to strong easterly trade winds and moderate to rough seas across the central and eastern Caribbean. Rough seas in mixed swell will prevail in the tropical N Atlantic through early next week. Elsewhere, mainly moderate to fresh winds will prevail.

Atlantic Ocean

A Gale Warning is in effect E of 35W, and a Significant Swell Event continues to affect the waters over the central and eastern Atlantic. Please, see the Special Features section above for more information.

High pressure dominates the entire Atlantic forecast waters with a 1035 mb center located W of the Azores. Under the influence of this system, fresh to strong NE to E winds are noted across most the waters E of 55W with moderate to fresh winds W of 55W. A surface trough is analyzed from 30N64W to 24N66W. Seas of 8 to 12 ft in NW swell dominate the waters E of a line from 31N44W to 20N67W. Seas of 4 to 7 ft are noted elsewhere.

For the forecast west of 55W, the surface ridge will continue to dominate the forecast waters. Rough seas prevail over the SE waters. Areal coverage of these rough seas will gradually decrease through Thu night, with a smaller area of rough seas continuing over portions of the SE waters through the end of the period. A weak front will shift off the SE U.S. Coast early Sat and move slowly southeastward and weaken across the waters W of 65W through Sun night before dissipating.

Posted 1 hour, 2 minutes ago by NHC Forecaster Era