WDXS31 PGTW 220900 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE 05S (DARIAN) WARNING NR 010// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 13.0S 87.4E INITIAL INTENSITY: 115 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 948 NM EAST-SOUTHEAST OF DIEGO GARCIA MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT 08 KTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 42 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY (MSI) DEPICTS A DEGRADING INNER CORE STRUCTURE, WITH THE EYE FILLING WITH CLOUD AND THE EYEWALL BECOMING LESS WELL-DEFINED IN INFRARED IMAGERY DURING THE PAST 12 HOURS. A 220547Z GMI MICROWAVE PASS SUGGESTS THAT THE EYEWALL IS STILL CLOSED, BUT WEAK IN THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT. EARLIER MICROWAVE DATA SHOWED AN OPEN EYEWALL AT TIMES. AGENCY DVORAK INTENSITY ESTIMATES HAVE DECLINED ACCORDINGLY, WITH DATA-T NUMBERS OF 5.5 FROM PGTW AND FMEE, AND 5.0 FROM KNES. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS THUS DECREASED TO 115 KT. WATER VAPOR CHANNELS SHOW DRY AIR CLOSE BY TO THE EAST OF THE CYCLONE, AND MODELED VERTICAL PROFILES FROM THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOW 20-25 KT OF MID-LEVEL WIND SHEAR OUT OF THE EAST, POTENTIALLY CAUSING INGESTION OF THIS DRY AIR MASS AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE OBSERVED DEGRADATION OF THE CORE STRUCTURE. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: SCATTEROMETER DATA CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: SUBTROPICAL RIDGE TO THE SOUTH AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T6.5 - 127 KTS CIMSS SATCON: 109 KTS AT 220203Z CIMSS ADT: 112 KTS AT 220315Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: FAVORABLE VWS: 15-20 KTS SST: 26-27 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: MODERATE RADIAL ANALYSIS CONFIDENCE: INITIAL POSITION: HIGH INITIAL INTENSITY: MEDIUM INITIAL WIND RADII: HIGH 3. FORECAST REASONING. SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES: THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE FORECAST FROM THE PREVIOUS WARNING. FORECAST DISCUSSION: TROPICAL CYCLONE 05S (DARIAN) IS ON A WEAKENING TREND, POTENTIALLY DUE TO MID-LEVEL EASTERLY WIND SHEAR AND UPWELLING OF COOLER WATER AS THE CYCLONE MOVES AT A SPEED OF 8 KT IN AN AREA OF RELATIVELY LOW OCEAN HEAT CONTENT. A MID-LEVEL RIDGE TO THE SOUTH IS CURRENTLY STEERING DARIAN GENERALLY WESTWARD, KEEPING IT OVER 26-27 DEGREE CELSIUS WATER DURING THE NEXT 36-48 HOURS. THEREAFTER, A DIGGING LONGWAVE TROUGH WEST OF AUSTRALIA IS EXPECTED TO INDUCE A TURN TOWARDS THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST, LIKELY RESULTING IN A SLOWING OF DARIAN'S FORWARD MOTION FOR A TIME. THE COUPLED HWRF MODEL SUGGESTS THAT THIS SLOW TURN COULD INDUCE MORE OCEANIC UPWELLING, CONTRIBUTING TO CONTINUING WEAKENING OF THE STORM, EVEN THOUGH WIND SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO ABATE AFTER 24 HOURS. THE SUITE OF DYNAMICAL AND STATISTICAL MODEL GUIDANCE GENERALLY AGREES, SHOWING WEAKENING THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD. DARIAN'S SOUTHWARD TURN WILL TAKE IT OVER WATERS COOLER THAN 26 DEGREES CELSIUS TOWARDS THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD, AND THE JTWC INTENSITY FORECAST DECREASES TO 60 KT BY 120 HOURS. DURING THE 96-120 HOUR PERIOD, THE AFOREMENTIONED LONGWAVE TROUGH WEST OF AUSTRALIA WILL PULL AWAY, ALLOWING A RIDGE TO REBUILD SOUTH OF DARIAN ONCE AGAIN, TURNING THE CYCLONE BACK SOUTHWESTWARD OR WESTWARD NEAR THE END OF THE FORECAST. MODEL DISCUSSION: CROSS-TRACK MODEL SPREAD IS ANOMALOUSLY HIGH DUE TO UNCERTAINTY AROUND THE LONGITUDE AT WHICH DARIAN WILL TURN SOUTHWARD. THE JTWC TRACK FORECAST STICKS CLOSE TO A BLEND OF THE GFS, GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN, ECMWF, AND ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEAN, WHICH ARE GENERALLY EAST OF THE MULTI-MODEL CONSENSUS. THE NAVGEM, GALWEM, AND UKMET MODELS ARE WESTERN OUTLIERS RELATIVE TO THIS GROUP. THE JTWC INTENSITY FORECAST STAYS SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE CONSENSUS FOR THE FIRST 24-36 HOURS, THEN CLOSE TO THE CONSENSUS THEREAFTER. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 0 - 72 HR: MEDIUM TRACK 72-120 HR: MEDIUM INTENSITY 0 - 72 HR: MEDIUM INTENSITY 72-120 HR: MEDIUM// NNNN