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Tehuano gap wind event

By Scott Bachmeier •

10-minute GOES-19 Near-Infrared images, from 1300-2330 UTC on 30 December [click to play MP4 animation]

As a strong arctic cold front moved southward across the Gulf of Mexico toward southern Mexico on 29-30 December 2025 (surface analyses), the cold front fractured as it moved inland across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec — the cold air was then channeled southward through Chivela Pass and emerged as a Tehuano (or “Tehuantepecer“) gap wind that eventually fanned outward across the Gulf of Tehuantepec and adjacent Pacific Ocean. 10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-19 (GOES-East) Near-Infrared images (above) showed the hazy plume of dust that was being transported offshore — along with a narrow arc cloud that marked the southern and eastern edges of this Tehuano flow. As north-northwesterly winds increased in the wake of the cold frontal passage, blowing dust reduced the surface visibility to 6 miles at Veracruz (MMVR) and hazy conditions reduced visibility to 4 miles at Minatitlán (MMMT).

A topography image (below) also showed Metop-B ASCAT winds emerging from the southern coast of Mexico, after the gap winds had accelerated through Chivela Pass; wind speeds were as high as 45 kts. The Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch had issued a polygon where Storm Force winds were likely over the Gulf or Tehuantepec (1800 UTC surface analysis).

Topography image, with Metop-B ASCAT wind barbs (having speeds of 34-47 kts) valid at 1513 UTC plotted in cyan [click to enlarge]

A sequence of ASCAT and OSCAT-3 surface scatterometer winds (below) showed how the offshore plume of stronger gap winds increased in size and intensity from the nighttime hours to the daytime hours on 30 December — with wind speeds of 50 kts and higher (black wind barbs) appearing just off the southern coast of Mexico in the final 1758 UTC OSCAT-3 image.

Sequence of Metop-B/C ASCAT and OSCAT-3 wind barbs, from 0242-1758 UTC on 30 December

True Color RGB images from GOES-18 (GOES-West) and GOES-19 from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) displayed the hazy plume of blowing dust as it fanned out across the Gulf of Tehuantepec and the Pacific Ocean.

10-minute True Color RGB images from GOES-18 (left) and GOES-19 (right), from 1330-2330 UTC on 30 December [click to play MP4 animation]

Categories: Air quality, GOES-18, GOES-19, Metop, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Satellite winds