WDPN31 PGTW 120900 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TROPICAL STORM 29W (PAKHAR) WARNING NR 007// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 20.0N 130.0E INITIAL INTENSITY: 45 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 408 NM SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF KADENA AB MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: EAST-NORTHEASTWARD AT 08 KTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 17 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: HAVING REACHED A PEAK OF 50 KNOTS, TROPICAL STORM 29W (PAKHAR) HAS NOW STARTED ON THE PATH TOWARDS A SLOW DEMISE. ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY (MSI) SHOWS THE REMNANTS OF THE CENTRAL DENSE OVERCAST (CDO) WITH OVERSHOOTING TOPS SEEN JUST SIX HOURS AGO, HAS ALREADY STARTED TO DECOUPLE FROM THE LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC) AND RACE DOWNSTREAM TO THE NORTHEAST, LEAVING THE LLCC LANGUISHING IN THE DUST. HOWEVER, WHILE THE GENERAL SCENARIO IS EVIDENT FROM THE MSI, FINDING THE LLCC IS PROVING TO BE A CHALLENGE, AS IT IS BEGINNING TO ELONGATE AND IS TILL OBSCURED BY UPPER-LEVEL CIRRUS CLOUDS. SOME LOW-LEVEL BANDS STREAMING UP FROM THE SOUTH ARE EVIDENT NEAR THE 130.5E, SUGGESTING THE LLCC MUST BE WEST OF THAT LINE, WHILE LOW LEVEL STRATOCUMULUS CLOUDS ARE POURING SOUTH-SOUTHWESTWARD INTO THE REAR OF THE SYSTEM INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF RELATIVELY DRY AND STABLE AIR TO THE WEST. A 120458Z AMSR2 36GHZ MICROWAVE IMAGE SHOWS AN ELONGATED AND DISORGANIZED LLC TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE DEEP CONVECTION THE WANING CDO. ADDITIONALLY, REANALYSIS OF THE 120030Z ASCAT-B AMBIGUITIES RESULTED IN A SLOWER TRACK SPEED OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. THE INITIAL POSITION IS ASSESSED WITH LOW CONFIDENCE DUE TO THE LACK OF A CLEAR-CUT LLCC IN THE AVAILABLE IMAGERY. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS ASSESSED WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE, ROUGHLY AT THE AVERAGE OF THE AGENCY FIXES, BUT LOWER THAN THE OBJECTIVE ADT CI, THOUGH THE ADT FINAL-T IS DOWN TO T3.1, WHICH SUPPORTS THE INITIAL INTENSITY QUITE WELL. THE SYSTEM SITS ON THE WESTERN END OF A SURFACE FRONT AS WELL, WHICH EXTENDS OUT TO THE EAST. THE SYSTEM HAS REACHED THE SHARP SHEAR BOUNDARY, WITH CIMSS SHEAR ESTIMATES NOW ABOVE 25 KNOTS FROM THE SOUTHWEST, WHICH SUPPORTS THE DEPICTION IN THE MSI. WHILE SSTS ARE WARM ENOUGH TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT, THE HIGH SHEAR AND SIGNIFICANT DRY, STABLE AIR INTRUSION FROM THE WEST DO NOT SUPPORT ANY ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: SCATTEROMETER DATA CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: NORTHWEST PERIPHERY OF A DEEP-LAYER SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) TO THE EAST. AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T3.0 - 45 KTS RJTD: T2.5 - 35 KTS KNES: T3.5 - 55 KTS CIMSS SATCON: 51 KTS AT 120447Z CIMSS ADT: 57 KTS AT 120540Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: UNFAVORABLE VWS: 25-30 KTS SST: 28-29 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: MODERATE POLEWARD OTHER FACTORS: DRY AIR INTRUSION FROM THE WEST. WEAK EQUATORWARD OUTFLOW. ANALYSIS CONFIDENCE: INITIAL POSITION: LOW INITIAL INTENSITY: HIGH INITIAL WIND RADII: LOW 3. FORECAST REASONING. SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES: THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE FORECAST FROM THE PREVIOUS WARNING. FORECAST DISCUSSION: THE PRIMARY STEERING INFLUENCE CURRENTLY REMAINS THE WEST-NORTHWEST SIDE OF THE DEEP STR CENTERED FAR TO THE EAST. THIS IS IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING HOWEVER, NOW THAT THE SYSTEM IS STARTING TO DECOUPLE. HIGH-RESOLUTION HWRF POTENTIAL VORTICITY CROSS-SECTIONS REVEAL THE LLCC ONLY EXTENDS UP TO ABOUT THE 850MB LEVEL AND IS ALREADY COMPLETELY DECOUPLED FROM THE MID-LEVEL VORTEX. AS SUCH, THE STEERING LEVEL IS LIKELY ALREADY DOWN TO ABOUT THE 850MB LAYER. WITH THE PRESENCE OF THE FRONTAL SYSTEM JUST TO THE NORTH ALONG ABOUT 20N AND THE RELATIVELY STRONG NORTH-NORTHEAST FLOW BEHIND IT, TS 29W HAS RUN INTO A WALL AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUSH MUCH FURTHER POLEWARD BEFORE TURNING SHARPLY EAST OVER THE NEXT 12 HOURS. AS THE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO WEAKEN, THE STRONG NORTHEASTERLY FLOW TO THE NORTH WILL PUSH THE FRONTAL SYSTEM FURTHER TO THE SOUTH AND THE REMNANTS OF TS 29W WILL TURN TO THE SOUTHWEST, RUNNING ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE SYSTEM IS ULTIMATELY FORECAST TO FULLY DISSIPATE NO LATER THAN TAU 48, THOUGH IT IS POSSIBLE THIS COULD OCCUR SLIGHTLY EARLIER IN THE FORECAST PERIOD. MODEL DISCUSSION: NUMERICAL MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT, WITH ALL THE MODELS EXCEPT THE COAMPS-TC AND UKMET ENSEMBLE, AGREEING ON A TURN FIRST TO THE EAST AND THEN TO THE SOUTHWEST OVER THE COURSE OF THE FORECAST. THERE REMAIN SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE TIMING AND SHARPNESS OF THE TURN, WITH THE GFS CONTINUING TO SHOW THE EARLIEST AND SHARPEST TURN WHILE THE NAVGEM IS THE SLOWEST AND MOST GRADUAL. THE REMAINDER OF THE CONSENSUS MEMBERS LIE IN A NARROW ENVELOPE ROUGHLY BETWEEN THE TWO OUTLIERS. THE JTWC FORECAST TRACK LIES AMONGST THE BULK OF THE GUIDANCE IN THE TIGHTLY PACKED ENVELOPE, WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE. INTENSITY GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT, WITH ALL MODELS SHOWING STEADY AND RAPID WEAKENING THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD, LENDING HIGH CONFIDENCE TO THE JTWC FORECAST INTENSITY. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 0 - 72 HR: MEDIUM INTENSITY 0 - 72 HR: HIGH// NNNN