 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
A strong surge of winds through the Tehuantepec gap that developed rapidly on December 19 was followed a day later by the development of a Papagayo jet and two days later by the development of a Panama jet. Surface wind and pressure fields for this time period (not shown here) demonstrate that the Tehuantepec surge is is generated by high sea level pressure in the Gulf of Mexico associated with an eastward moving midlatitude disturbance over United States.
The sequential triggering of the three gap outflows under the influence of a midlatitude disturbance closely follows the conventional view of the north-to-south development of the wind jets along the Pacific coast of Central America.