Antofagasta, Chile

Weather Underground Forecast for Friday, February 10, 2012.

While tropical cyclone development is not anticipated in the tropical Atlantic Ocean on Friday, a few areas of active weather are expected in the Caribbean Sea and Central America. A ridge of high pressure to the north of the Caribbean Sea will shift eastward, allowing for a cold front to approach the Yucatan Channel. This boundary will stall during the day, becoming positioned just north of the Yucatan Channel and western Cuba. Moisture pooling along this boundary will aid in producing rain showers and thunderstorms along and near the front in western Cuba. Meanwhile, moisture banking along the Caribbean coasts of Central America will create chances of scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms near the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Belize. In the eastern Caribbean Sea, clusters of isolated showers will move across the Lesser Antilles and portions Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

For South America, a frontal boundary and wave of low pressure will push into southern Chile with strong winds and significant moisture. Heavy rainfall is expected in the southern Andes as this disturbance passes. Lighter showers will spread into southern tail of Argentina. Farther north, a frontal boundary associated with a low pressure system located off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul will kick up widely scattered showers and thunderstorms in Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo.