WDPN32 PGTW 030900 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TROPICAL STORM 23W (ATSANI) WARNING NR 020// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. TROPICAL STORM 23W (ATSANI), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 396 NM SOUTH OF KADENA AB, HAS TRACKED SOUTHEASTWARD AT 05 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS A PARTIALLY EXPOSED LOW-LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC) WITH CONVECTION BEGINNING TO ORGANIZE, CURRENTLY FLARING NEAR THE ASSESSED CENTER POSITION WITH SOMEWHAT WEAKER CONVECTION BEGINNING TO WRAP INTO THE LLCC. THE INITIAL POSITION IS PLACED WITH FAIR CONFIDENCE BASED ANALYSIS OF THE LOW-LEVEL BANDING FEATURES EVIDENT BETWEEN THE FLARE UPS OF CONVECTION, SUPPORTED BY EXTRAPOLATION TO A 030718Z SSMIS 91GHZ MICROWAVE IMAGE, SHOWING DEEP CONVECTION TO THE SOUTH, AND WEAKER CONVECTIVE BANDING WRAPPING UP THE EAST SIDE. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS SET AT 35KTS BASED ON MULTI-AGENCY DVORAK CURRENT INTENSITY ESTIMATES OF T2.5 (35 KNOTS) FROM PGTW, KNES AND RJTD, AN AUTOMATED DVORAK TECHNIQUE ESTIMATE OF T2.1 AND A SATELLITE CONSENSUS ESTIMATE OF 40 KNOTS. THE ENVIRONMENT IS OVERALL FAVORABLE WITH THE SYSTEM COCOONED IN A SMALL POCKET OF LOW (5 KNOTS OR LESS) VWS, RADIAL OUTFLOW BEING PROVIDED BY A RECENTLY DEVELOPED POINT SOURCE OVERHEAD, AND WARM (27 TO 28C) SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES (SST). THE SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY MOVING SOUTHEAST AS IT MOVES IN A CLOCKWISE LOOP IN A WEAK STEERING ENVIRONMENT IN A COL AREA BETWEEN TWO SUBTROPICAL RIDGES (STR), ONE TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AND A SECOND TO THE WEST-NORTHWEST. 3. FORECAST REASONING. A. NO CHANGE TO THE FORECAST PHILOSOPHY SINCE THE PREVIOUS PROGNOSTIC REASONING MESSAGE. B. TS 23W WILL SLOWLY DRIFT FIRST SOUTHEAST, THEN SOUTH, THEN SOUTHWEST OVER THE NEXT 12-24 HOURS AS IT COMPLETES THE CLOCKWISE LOOPING MOTION INSIDE THE AFOREMENTIONED COL REGION. BY TAU 24, STR LOCATED TO THE NORTHEAST WILL BEGIN TO BUILD AND EXTEND WESTWARD, ACCELERATING TS 23W ONTO A MORE WESTWARD TRACK BY TAU 24, CONTINUING GENERALLY WESTWARD THROUGH TAU 72, WHEN IT WILL ENTER THE LUZON STRAIT. SLOW BUT STEADY INTENSIFICATION IS FORECAST THOUGH TAU 72, UNDER WEAKLY FAVORABLE CONDITIONS OF LOW (5-10 KNOTS) VWS AND MODERATE UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW, BEING SOMEWHAT OFFSET BY THAT FACT THAT THE SSTS ARE NOT EXCEPTIONALLY WARM AND WILL BE DECREASING AS THE SYSTEM MOVES WEST. NUMERICAL MODELS ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT THOUGH TAU 72, WITH A 140NM SPREAD AT TAU 72, IF THE NVGM SOLUTION IS DISCOUNTED, AND 270NM IF NVGM IS INCLUDED IN THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE. THE NAVGEM SOLUTION IS THE POLEWARD OUTLIER IN THE MULTI-MODEL CONSENSUS, AND TAKES THE SYSTEM OVER SOUTHERN TAIWAN BEFORE DIVING IT SHARPLY SOUTH TO REJOIN THE REMAINDER OF THE MODEL TRACKERS BY TAU 72. IN LIGHT OF THE ERRATIC AND UNLIKELY NORTHWARD MOVEMENT REPRESENTED BY THIS MODEL, IT IS DISCOUNTED FROM THE CONSENSUS. THE JTWC FORECAST LIES VERY CLOSE TO THE MULTI-MODEL CONSENSUS SOLUTION THROUGH TAU 72 WITH FAIR CONFIDENCE. C. IN THE EXTENDED TAUS, THE PRIMARY STEERING RIDGE WILL REORIENT TO A MORE SOUTHWEST-NORTHEAST ORIENTATION, PUSHING THE SYSTEM ONTO A MORE WEST-SOUTHWESTWARD TRACK BY TAU 96. AS THE SYSTEM EXITS THE LUZON STRAIT, IT WILL COME UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE FROM COOLER, DRIER NORTHEASTERLY FLOW EXITING THE TAIWAN STRAIT, WHICH COMBINED WITH INCREASED VWS, DECREASED UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW AND MARGINAL SSTS (27 DEG CELSISUS), WILL STEADILY WEAKEN THE SYSTEM THROUGH TAU 120. THE CONSENSUS MODELS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NVGM, ALL CONCUR ON THE GENERAL SCENARIO OF A WEAKENING SYSTEM MOVING SOUTHWEST AFTER TAU 96, BUT DIFFER SOMEWHAT ON THE DEGREE OF THE TURN AND THE SPEED OF THE SYSTEM, CROSS-TRACK SPREAD INCREASING TO 250NM WHILE ALONG-TRACK SPREAD INCREASES TO 160NM BY TAU 120. THE JTWC OFFICIAL FORECAST FAVORS THE ECMWF SOLUTION ON THE NORTHERN SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE WITH LOW CONFIDENCE.// NNNN