Tropical Weather Discussion
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
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168 AXPZ20 KNHC 201534 TWDEP Tropical Weather Discussion NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL 1605 UTC Thu Nov 20 2025 Tropical Weather Discussion for the eastern Pacific Ocean from 03.4S to 30N, east of 120W including the Gulf of California, and from the Equator to 30N, between 120W and 140W. The following information is based on satellite imagery, weather observations, radar, and meteorological analysis. Based on 1200 UTC surface analysis and satellite imagery through 1500 UTC. ...SPECIAL FEATURES... Large NW swell to arrive over the northern waters: A cold front that has just started to move into the far NW corner of the area will sweep across the northern waters through Fri night while weakening. A set of large NW swell behind the front will impact the northern waters beginning late tonight. Seas exceeding 8 ft will occur north of 24N west of 117W by late on Fri. Very large seas of 12 to 14 ft containing wave periods of 12-14 seconds are expected north of 27N between 121W and 131W also by late on Fri. Seas across this area are forecast to subside to below 12 ft on Sat, and to below 8 ft early next week. Please read the latest HIGH SEAS FORECAST issued by the National Hurricane Center at website- https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAHSFEP2.shtml for more details. ...INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE/MONSOON TROUGH... The monsoon trough extends from the coast of Panama near 09N79W to 08N110W, where it transitions to the ITCZ extending to beyond 07N140W. Scattered moderate isolated strong convection is noted north of 04N east of 84W as well as from 05N-08N west of 135W. ...OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF MEXICO... Please see the Special Features section for details on an upcoming large swell event. Winds are moderate or lighter over forecast waters. Seas are 2-4 ft over the Gulf of California and 4-7 ft over the Pacific waters. For the forecast, a cold front is forecast to enter the Baja California Norte offshore waters tonight with only moderate NW winds. But this front will be followed by large NW swell to the waters west of Cabo San Lucas by Sun. These seas will slowly subside through early next week. Low pressure over the SW United States will briefly induce fresh W to NW winds over the N Gulf of California on Sat. Elsewhere, winds and seas are quiescent. ...OFFSHORE WATERS WITHIN 250 NM OF CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA, AND WITHIN 750 NM OF ECUADOR... Winds over the Gulf of Papagayo region are NE moderate to fresh. South of the monsoon trough east of 85W, winds are SW moderate to fresh. Elsewhere, winds are moderate or lighter. Seas are 4-6 ft across the forecast waters. Scattered moderate isolated strong convection is noted north of 04N east of 84W. For the forecast, moderate to fresh NE to E winds are expected over the Gulf of Papagayo region into early next week. Moderate or lighter winds are forecast elsewhere during the forecast period. ...REMAINDER OF THE AREA... Please see the Special Features section for details on an upcoming large swell event. A cold front reaches our forecast waters at 30N126W and extends west-southwestward to 28N137W. Winds behind the front are N moderate to fresh with seas 6-8 ft. A large pressure gradient between a 1032 mb high near 34N145W and lower pressure over the ITCZ is forcing fresh to strong NE trades from 08N-23N west of 120W with seas 8-10 ft in mixed wind waves and N swell. Elsewhere, winds are moderate or weaker and seas are 5-7 ft. The cold front will progress quickly southeastward today and Fri, and should dissipate by Sat morning as it reaches 20N. Peak winds behind the front will be NW fresh to strong north of 25N on Fri before diminishing below fresh by Sat morning. See details in the Special Features about the large swell following the front. As the high northwest of our waters diminishes, the trades will weaken on Fri and Sat to moderate to fresh and remain that way through early next week. However, seas will continue near 8-10 ft in the tradewind belt due to reinforcement by the NW swell. $$ Landsea