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A strong Tehuantepec wind jet was triggered on November 9 by an eastward moving midlatitude disturbance over the United States. A day later, the Papagayo jet intensified and weak offshore flow began to develop in the Gulf of Panama. Up until this time the wind jets evolved sequentially as in the conventional view. As the region of high sea level pressure and north-northeasterly winds continued to move eastward across the Gulf of Mexico, the winds over the Gulf of Tehuantepec decreased in intensity and areal extent on November 15.
During the period November 13-16, a synoptic-scale low pressure system developed over the western Caribbean Sea, becoming a tropical depression on November 16 and briefly achieving status as hurricane Marco on November 20. In association with the development of the tropical depression, southerly flow developed over a broad zonal band in the eastern tropical Pacific. Apparently in response to this development, the Papagayo and Panama winds turned onshore, blowing from the Pacific to the Caribbean, and the weak Tehuantepec wind jet turned cyclonically southeastward. The cyclonic turning of the Tehuantepec jet in association with Hurricane Marco has been investigated in detail by M. Bourassa, L. Zamudio and J. O'Brien at Floriday State University.
The midlatitude disturbance moved eastward over the Gulf of Mexico during the period November 17-20, causing the Tehuantepec winds to decrease. The Papagayo and Panama winds continued to blow onshore under the influence of the eastern Pacific onshore winds and the Caribbean surface low associated with tropical storm Marco.