Synoptic in nature???

[Cookiely]

Would someone explain to me what this means. Its part of the Tampa forecast discussion. "Unlike Arlene's precursor this looks to be more synoptic in nature" What does that mean?
THINGS START TO GET A LITTLE MORE INTERESTING BY THE END OF NEXT
WEEKEND. ALL MODELS HAVE BEEN INDICATING SOME KIND OF DISTURBED
WEATHER DEVELOPING NEAR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN GULF/NORTHWEST
CARIBBEAN. UNLIKE ARLENE'S PRECURSOR...THIS LOOKS TO BE MORE
SYNOPTIC IN NATURE AS FAIRLY DEEP 500 MB TROUGH EDGES SOUTHWEST
ACROSS THE CENTRAL GULF WITH AN EVENTUAL INCREASE IN S TO SW FLOW
OFF THE SURFACE. IN ANY CASE...WE'LL HAVE TO MONITOR FOR MORE
INCLEMENT WEATHER IN ABOUT A WEEK. FOR NOW...HAVE RAMPED UP PCPN
AND CLOUDS JUST A BIT AND TAKEN DOWN DAYTIME TEMPS A COUPLE DEGREES
BELOW NORMAL.

[iceangel]

I did a google search for this and here is what I came up with...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=I ... gle+Search

[Mattie]

Synoptic - relating to or displaying conditions as they exist simultaneously over a broad area -

NOTE: Galveston Duck has it all below <grin> - I pushed the submit button and the whole definition wasn't pasted in - so sorry.

[GalvestonDuck]

http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/gloss ... =synoptic1

synoptic—1. In general, pertaining to or affording an overall view.
In meteorology, this term has become somewhat specialized in referring to the use of meteorological data obtained simultaneously over a wide area for the purpose of presenting a comprehensive and nearly instantaneous picture of the state of the atmosphere. Thus, to a meteorologist, “synoptic” takes on the additional connotation of simultaneity. 2. A specific scale of atmospheric motion with a typical range of many hundreds of kilometers, including such phenomena as cyclones and tropical cyclones.
Compare mesoscale.