WDPN31 PGTW 280900 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TYPHOON 02W (MAWAR) WARNING NR 034// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 17.5N 127.9E INITIAL INTENSITY: 105 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 540 NM SOUTH OF KADENA AB, OKINAWA MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT 09 KNOTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 40 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: TYPHOON (TY) 02W HAS STEADILY WEAKENED OVER THE PAST DAY FROM 135 KNOTS AT 270600Z TO THE CURRENT INTENSITY OF 105 KNOTS. ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED (EIR) SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS DEEP CONVECTIVE BANDING WRAPPING AROUND A RAGGED 9NM EYE WHILE CYCLING QUICKLY. OVERALL, THE CONVECTIVE STRUCTURE HAS WEAKENED AND BECOME MORE FRAGMENTED OVER THE NORTHERN SEMICIRCLE WHILE MAINTAINING OVER THE CORE. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS HAVE DEGRADED SLOWLY WITH COOLING SST VALUES (28C) AND DECREASED POLEWARD OUTFLOW (ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORTHWESTERN PERIPHERY) BUT REMAIN MARGINALLY FAVORABLE. ALTHOUGH THERE IS CONVERGENT FLOW AND SUBSIDENCE ALONG THE NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHERN PERIPHERIES OF THE SYSTEM, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF SIGNIFICANT DRY AIR ENTRAINMENT. SST VALUES ARE MODERATELY FAVORABLE UNDER THE CORE AND SOUTHERN SEMICIRCLE BUT ARE COOLER AND UNFAVORABLE (26-27C) UNDER THE NORTHERN SEMICIRCLE. ADDITIONALLY, COOL UPWELLING WATER IS LIKELY (AND DEPICTED IN HWRF) DUE TO THE SHALLOW WARM LAYER, WHICH ALSO MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE STEADY WEAKENING TREND. A 280504Z AMSR2 89GHZ MICROWAVE IMAGE REVEALS A NEAR-COMPLETE EYEWALL (BREAK OVER THE SSE) SURROUNDING A WELL-DEFINED MICROWAVE EYE FEATURE WITH INTENSE SPIRAL BANDING OVER THE SOUTHERN SEMICIRCLE AND BROADER, MORE FRAGMENTED CONVECTIVE BANDING ELSEWHERE. THERE IS HIGH CONFIDENCE IN THE INITIAL POSITION BASED ON THE EIR AND AMSR2 IMAGERY. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS ASSESSED AT 105 KNOTS BASED ON THE AGENCY CURRENT INTENSITY ESTIMATES OF 102 KNOTS AS WELL AS THE LATEST ADT AND AIDT (104 KNOTS) ESTIMATES. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: OBJECTIVE BEST TRACK CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: DEEP-LAYER SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) POSITIONED TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T5.5 - 102 KTS RJTD: T5.5 - 102 KTS KNES: T5.5 - 102 KTS CIMSS ADT: 110 KTS AT 280600Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: MARGINALLY FAVORABLE VWS: 5-10 KTS SST: 28 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: MODERATE RADIAL ANALYSIS CONFIDENCE: INITIAL POSITION: HIGH INITIAL INTENSITY: MEDIUM INITIAL WIND RADII: MEDIUM 3. FORECAST REASONING. SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES: THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE FORECAST FROM THE PREVIOUS WARNING. FORECAST DISCUSSION: TY 02W IS FORECAST TO TRACK WEST-NORTHWESTWARD TO NORTHWESTWARD OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS BUT WILL GRADUALLY SLOW SIGNIFICANTLY BY DAY 3 AS IT ENTERS A COMPETING STEERING ENVIRONMENT BETWEEN A STR TO THE EAST AND A STR TO THE WEST OVER SOUTHEAST CHINA. STEADY WEAKENING IS ANTICIPATED DUE TO COOLING SST (26-27C) VALUES AND UPWELLING COOLER WATER AS THE SYSTEM SLOWS. AFTER DAY 3, TY 02W WILL DRIFT POLEWARD WITHIN THE COMPETING STEERING PATTERN WHILE WEAKENING STEADILY DUE TO COOLER SST VALUES AND DRY AIR ENTRAINMENT. MODEL DISCUSSION: DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE REMAINS IN TIGHT AGREEMENT THROUGH TAU 48 THEN DIVERGES WITH INCREASING UNCERTAINTY THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. IN GENERAL, THE 500MB FLOW REMAINS ZONAL OVER THE EAST CHINA SEA AND JAPAN WITH A STRONG JET OVER KOREA AND JAPAN BUT NO DEEP, DYNAMIC SHORTWAVE TROUGHS EVIDENT TO RAPIDLY RECURVE THE SYSTEM POLEWARD. THIS LACKLUSTER PATTERN IS REFLECTED IN THE ECMWF AND GFS (EPS AND GEFS) PROBABILISTIC GUIDANCE, WHICH SHOW A WIDE EAST-WEST SPREAD OF SOLUTIONS WITH SLOW TRACK SPEEDS. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 0 - 72 HR: HIGH TRACK 72-120 HR: MEDIUM INTENSITY 0 - 72 HR: MEDIUM INTENSITY 72-120 HR: MEDIUM// NNNN