WDXS31 PGTW 172100 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE 13S (DJOUNGOU) WARNING NR 005// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 16.7S 72.3E INITIAL INTENSITY: 100 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 576 NM SOUTH OF DIEGO GARCIA MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: EASTWARD AT 19 KTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 36 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED (EIR) SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS THAT THE VORTEX ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL CYCLONE (TC) 13S HAS UNDERGONE AXISYMMETRIZATION AND BECOME VERTICALLY ALIGNED, WITH A STRONG EYE EMERGING IN THE EIR WITHIN THE LAST 2 HOURS, MARKING THE ONSET OF FORECASTED PERIOD OF RAPID INTENSIFICATION (RI). A 171639Z TROPICS-6 91GHZ MICROWAVE IMAGER REVEALED A WELL-DEFINED MICROWAVE FEATURE, SURROUNDED BY MODERATELY STRONG DEEP CONVECTION, FORMING A SYMMETRICAL EYEWALL. A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF VERTICAL TILT DOWNSHEAR TOWARDS THE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST IS EVIDENT IN THE HIGHER FREQUENCY TROPICS CHANNELS, CONFIRMING THE STRUCTURE SEEN IN THE HIGH-RESOLUTION MODEL FIELDS. THE INITIAL POSITION IS PLACED WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE BASED ON THE OBSERVABLE EYE IN THE INFRARED IMAGERY, AND EXTRAPOLATION OF THE MICROWAVE EYE IN THE TROPICS IMAGERY NOTED ABOVE. THE INITIAL INTENSITY OF 100 KTS IS PLACED WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE, CONSISTENT WITH SUBJECTIVE DVORAK ESTIMATES FROM 4.5 TO 5.5 (77-102 KTS) FROM MULTIPLE AGENCIES. ANALYSIS REVEALS A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT, WITH WARM SSTS, LOW DEEP-LAYER VWS AND ROBUST POLEWARD OUTFLOW INTO THE DIVERGENT ENTRANCE REGION OF A 130 KNOT JET MAX TO THE SOUTHEAST, WHICH IS THE MAIN FACTOR IN THE RAPID INTENSIFICATION OF THE SYSTEM. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: PERSISTENCE CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: NEAR EQUATORIAL RIDGE (NER) TO THE NORTHEAST. AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T5.5 - 102 KTS KNES: T5.5 - 102 KTS DEMS: T5.0 - 90 KTS FMEE: T5.0 - 90 KTS FIMP: T4.5 - 77 KTS CIMSS SATCON: 111 KTS AT 171930Z CIMSS ADT: 104 KTS AT 171930Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: FAVORABLE VWS: 10-15 KTS SST: 29-30 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: STRONG POLEWARD 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: TC 13S IS CURRENTLY TRACKING JUST A SHADE SOUTH OF DUE EAST, ALONG THE NER TO THE NORTH, WHICH EXTENDS ALL THE WAY TO AUSTRALIA. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE STEERING PATTERN IS EXPECTED, OTHER THAN A SLIGHT REORIENTATION OF THE RIDGE AXIS. THIS WILL PUSH TC 13S ONTO A MORE SOUTHEASTWARD TRACK AFTER TAU 12, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST, AS THE SYSTEM TRACKS INTO THE MIDLATITUDES. THROUGH TAU 36, TC 13S IS FORECASTED TO CONTINUE TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY, EXPECTED TO REACH A PEAK INTENSITY OF AT LEAST 120 KTS AT TAU 12. AFTER REACHING ITS PEAK, THE SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO WEAKEN SLOWLY AT FIRST, BUT AFTER TAU 36 TC 13S WILL BEGIN TO RAPIDLY WEAKEN AS NORTHWESTERLY SHEAR INCREASES SHARPLY AND PULLS IN DRY AIR WHICH WILL ENTRAIN INTO THE CORE OF THE SYSTEM. TC 13S IS FORECASTED TO BEGIN SUBTROPICAL TRANSITION (STT) AT TAU 36 AND BY TAU 48, THE SYSTEM WILL BE DECAPITATED BY THE STRONG SHEAR AND SMOTHERED BY A DEEP LAYER OF DRY AIR ABOVE 700MB. STT IS FORECAST TO BE COMPLETE NO LATER THAN TAU 72, BUT POTENTIALLY AS EARLY AS TAU 48. MODEL DISCUSSION: MODEL GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO BE IN TIGHT AGREEMENT DUE TO A VERY SIMPLE STEERING MECHANISM. THE JTWC TRACK FORECAST IS PLACED WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE WITH A CROSS-TRACK SPREAD AT TAU 72 OF JUST 100 NM. INTENSITY GUIDANCE HAS A BIT MORE SPREAD WITH MOST GUIDANCE SHOWING THE SAME GENERAL TREND THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD. PEAK INTENSITY IN THE GUIDANCE RANGES FROM 110 KNOTS FOR THE SHIPS MODEL, UP TO 135 KNOTS FOR THE COAMPS-TC ENSEMBLE MEAN (CTR1) WITH THE JTWC FORECAST MOST CLOSELY FOLLOWING THE HAFS-A GUIDANCE THROUGH TAU 36. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD, THE GUIDANCE PACKAGE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH WEAKENING AFTER TAU 24, BUT WITH A 20 KT SPREAD THROUGH TO THE END OF FORECAST PERIOD. FOR THIS REASON, THE JTWC INTENSITY FORECAST IS PLACED WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 0 - 72 HR: HIGH INTENSITY 0 - 72 HR: MEDIUM// NNNN