WDPN32 PGTW 212100 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR SUPER TYPHOON 29W (CHAMPI) WARNING NR 030// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 19.9N 126.9E INITIAL INTENSITY: 135 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 399 NM SOUTH OF KADENA AB MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: NORTHWESTWARD AT 11 KTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 52 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED (EIR) SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS SUPER TYPHOON (STY) 29W (CHAMPI) AS AN EXPANSIVE SYSTEM WITH A LARGE EYE, MEASURING 33 NM IN DIAMETER, WITH A TEMPERATURE OF 18 C. THE SURROUNDING COLDEST CLOUD TOPS HAVE WARMED SLIGHTLY OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS, PARTICULARLY ON THE WESTERN FLANK. THIS ALIGNS WITH A 211721Z GPM MICROWAVE SUITE WHICH REVEALS THE INNER EYEWALL HAS BECOME ERODED IN THE SOUTHWESTERN QUADRANT WHILE THE SECONDARY EYEWALL -- SEPARATED BY A 35 NM MOAT -- HAS STRENGTHENED ON THE SOUTHERN SEMICIRCLE, INDICATING THE LIKELY ONSET OF ANOTHER EYEWALL REPLACEMENT CYCLE (ERC). HOWEVER, DUE TO THE OVERALL EXPECTED CONTINUED WEAKENING OF THE SYSTEM MOVING FORWARD, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE ERC DOES NOT COMPLETE, AS THE SECONDARY EYEWALL IN THE AFOREMENTIONED GMI SUITE IS ALSO WEAKENING IN COMPARISON TO ITS APPEARANCE IN PREVIOUS MICROWAVE DATA. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE ASSESSED TO BE FAVORABLE WITH WARM (28-29 C) SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES, LOW (5-10 KTS) VERTICAL WIND SHEAR (VWS), AND STRONG RADIAL OUTFLOW. HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM HAS MOVED INTO AN AREA OF LOWER (BELOW 75 KJ PER CM SQUARED) OCEAN HEAT CONTENT (OHC) WHICH COUPLED WITH THE ERC IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WEAKENING THE SYSTEM. THE INITIAL POSITION IS PLACED WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE BASED ON THE EYE IN EIR. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS ASSESSED WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE, IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH LOWERING AGENCY DVORAK FIXES AND CIMSS OBJECTIVE ESTIMATES. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: PERSISTENCE CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: SUBTROPICAL RIDGE CENTERED TO THE NORTHEAST AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T7.0 - 140 KTS RJTD: T7.0 - 140 KTS RCTP: T6.5 - 127 KTS CIMSS SATCON: 145 KTS AT 211724Z CIMSS ADT: 112 KTS AT 211730Z CIMSS AIDT: 120 KTS AT 211730Z CIMSS D-MINT: 131 KTS AT 211726Z CIMSS D-PRINT: 126 KTS AT 211900Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: FAVORABLE VWS: 5-10 KTS SST: 28-29 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: STRONG RADIAL OTHER FACTORS: EYEWALL REPLACEMENT CYCLE; LOW OHC ANALYSIS CONFIDENCE: INITIAL POSITION: HIGH INITIAL INTENSITY: MEDIUM INITIAL WIND RADII: LOW 3. FORECAST REASONING. SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES: THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE FORECAST FROM THE PREVIOUS WARNING. FORECAST DISCUSSION: 29W IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE NORTHWESTWARD AS IT APPROACHES THE AXIS OF THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) CENTERED TO THE NORTHEAST, BEGINNING A POLEWARD TURN BETWEEN TAUS 12 AND 24. AFTER TAU 60, 29W IS EXPECTED TO TURN AND ACCELERATE NORTHEASTWARD, WITH A SHARPER EASTWARD TURN EXPECTED BETWEEN TAUS 72 AND 96 AS THE STEERING STR FLATTENS SLIGHTLY DUE TO THE PASSAGE OF THE MID-LATITUDE TROUGH TO THE NORTH AT THAT TIME. 29W IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL OVER KYUSHU JUST AFTER TAU 96 AND CONTINUE TRACKING EASTWARD, SOUTH OF KYOTO. EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION (ETT) IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BY TAU 72 AS 29W APPROACHES THE BAROCLINIC ZONE, WITH COMPLETION OF ETT EXPECTED BY TAU 120. REGARDING INTENSITY, 29W IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ITS RAPID WEAKENING TREND AS IT ENTERS AN AREA OF LOW OHC AND IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN UPWELLING COOLER SSTS. A SLIGHTLY MORE GRADUAL PERIOD OF WEAKENING IS FORECAST BETWEEN TAUS 24 AND 36 AS 29W MOVES OVER AN AREA OF SLIGHTLY HIGHER OHCS, BUT THEN CONTINUES TO STEEPLY DROP THEREAFTER DUE TO COOL SSTS AND SHARPLY INCREASING VWS BY TAU 72 AS 29W APPROACHES THE STRONG UPPER-LEVEL WESTERLIES. DUE TO THE HIGH UNCERTAINTY OF THE FORECAST TRACK AND INTENSITY, SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE TIMING AND DISTANCE OF CPA TO SASEBO COULD OCCUR IN LATER FORECASTS. MODEL DISCUSSION: TRACK MODEL GUIDANCE HAS COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH ALL PHYSICS-BASED MODELS (EXCLUDING GALWEM AND HAFS-A) NOW DEPICTING A (WIDER) RECURVING TRACK, ALTHOUGH THE BULK OF PHYSICS- BASED MODELS STILL DEPICT BRIEF LANDFALL OVER NORTHERN TAIWAN AND CHINA BEFORE REEMERGING OVER THE EAST CHINA SEA AND TRACKING TOWARDS KYUSHU. AI-BASED MODELS, WHILE CONSISTENTLY THE EASTERN-MOST GROUPING OF TRACKS, CONTINUE TO SHOW A LARGE DIFFERENCE IN TRACK SPEED AMONGST THEMSELVES, WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL WEATHERMESH 6 REMAINING JUST WEST OF KYUSHU BY TAU 120, WHILE THE AI GFS TRACK IS THE FASTEST, REEMERGING OVER WATER AND WELL SOUTH OF TOKYO BY TAU 120. OVERALL CROSS TRACK SPREAD IS 700 NM AND ALONG TRACK SPREAD IS 315 NM AT TAU 120, BETWEEN THE AI GFS BEING THE FASTEST AND MOST EQUATORWARD, WHILE THE ECMWF IS AN OUTLIER TO THE NORTH, BRINGING THE TRACK TOWARDS LANDFALL OVER THE KOREAN PENINSULA BY TAU 120. DESPITE THE INCREASE IN AGREEMENT ON THE RECURVATURE SCENARIO, THERE IS STILL HIGH UNCERTAINTY AND A POSSIBILITY FOR BRIEF LANDFALL OVER TAIWAN AND CHINA, ALTHOUGH NOT DEPICTED BY THE JTWC FORECAST, DEPENDING ON HOW THE PASSAGE OF THE MID-LATITUDE TROUGH TO THE NORTH AFFECTS THE STEERING STR. THE UNCERTAINTY IN TRACK ALSO APPLIES TO THE FORECAST ETT, AS A TRACK THAT LINGERS OVER THE COOLER SSTS OF THE EAST CHINA SEA FOR LONGER AND UPPER-LEVEL WESTERLIES COULD ACCELERATE THE TIMELINE OF ETT. THE OFFICIAL JTWC FORECAST IS ASSESSED WITH LOW CONFIDENCE THROUGHOUT, ALIGNED CLOSELY WITH THE AI CONSENSUS AS TRACKS BIFURCATE BEYOND TAU 48, AND SLIGHTLY SLOWER THAN AI CONSENSUS AT TAU 120 AS THE AI MODELS DIVERGE IN TRACK SPEED. MODEL INTENSITY GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON A STEEP WEAKENING TREND FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD, ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE JTWC INTENSITY CONSENSUS MEMBERS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH TRACKS THAT MAKE LANDFALL OVER TAIWAN AND/OR CHINA. THE OFFICIAL JTWC FORECAST INTENSITY IS ASSESSED WITH LOW CONFIDENCE THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD, AS CHANGES TO THE TRACK WILL CLOSELY AFFECT THE INTENSITY. OVERALL, THE JTWC INTENSITY FORECAST CLOSELY FOLLOWS BOTH GOOGLE DEEPMIND MODELS AS THEIR TRACK ALIGNS WELL WITH THE JTWC FORECAST TRACK. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 00-72 HR: LOW TRACK 72-120 HR: LOW INTENSITY 00-72 HR: LOW INTENSITY 72-120 HR: LOW// NNNN