WDPN31 PGTW 211500 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TYPHOON 17W (SAUDEL) WARNING NR 013// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 16.0N 148.1E INITIAL INTENSITY: 70 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 141 NM EAST-NORTHEAST OF SAIPAN MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD AT 13 KTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 28 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: NOW A TYPHOON, 17W HAS UNDERGONE RAPID INTENSIFICATION (RI), WITH ITS INTENSITY INCREASING BY 30 KTS IN THE PAST 24 HOURS. ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED (EIR) SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS AN EXPANDING CONVECTIVE ENVELOPE AS FEEDER BANDS EXPLODE OVER THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PERIPHERY. TY 17W NOW HAS A RAGGED EYE AS THE CENTRAL DENSE OVERCAST ASSOCIATED WITH THE INNER CORE HAS BECOME BETTER DEFINED. THE INCREASING UPPER-LEVEL DIVERGENCE CAN BE LARGELY ATTRIBUTED TO EXCELLENT POLEWARD OUTFLOW ALOFT. THE SYSTEM IS IN A HIGHLY FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT OF HIGH OCEAN HEAT CONTENT (OHC), LOW VERTICAL WIND SHEAR (VWS), AND RICH, DEEP-LAYER MOISTURE. THE INITIAL POSITION IS ASSESSED WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE BASED ON THE RAGGED EYE FEATURE AND THE TIGHT GROUPING OF AGENCY FIXES. THE SUBJECTIVE DVORAK ESTIMATES HAVE BEEN RISING, WITH PGTW, KNES, AND RCTP ALL REPORTING T4.0. IN FACT, APPLYING THE EIR-EYE TECHNIQUE YIELDS A DATA T-NUMBER OF 4.5. THESE ESTIMATES, COMBINED WITH THE IMPROVED CONVECTIVE SIGNATURE, JUSTIFY RAISING THE INITIAL INTENSITY TO 70 KTS WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: PERSISTENCE CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: SOUTHWESTERN FLANK OF A SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) CENTERED TO THE NORTHEAST AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T4.0 - 65 KTS RJTD: T3.5 - 55 KTS RCTP: T4.0 - 65 KTS KNES: T4.0 - 65 KTS CIMSS SATCON: 57 KTS AT 210510Z CIMSS ADT: 49 KTS AT 211210Z CIMSS AIDT: 45 KTS AT 211210Z CIMSS D-MINT: 63 KTS AT 211227Z CIMSS D-PRINT: 60 KTS AT 211210Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: HIGHLY FAVORABLE VWS: 5-10 KTS SST: 29-30 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: MODERATE RADIAL ANALYSIS CONFIDENCE: INITIAL POSITION: HIGH INITIAL INTENSITY: HIGH INITIAL WIND RADII: MEDIUM 3. FORECAST REASONING. SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES: THE JTWC FORECAST TRACK HAS SHIFTED SOUTHWARD BY 20 NM AT TAU 96 AND 36 NM AT TAU 120. FORECAST DISCUSSION: TY 17W CONTINUES TO MOVE NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD AT AN AVERAGE SPEED OF 10-13 KTS ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN FLANK OF AN ELONGATED STR TO ITS NORTHEAST. THIS MOTION WILL HOLD THROUGH TAU 36. AFTER THIS POINT, THE STR WILL MIGRATE WESTWARD, WHICH WILL FORCE THE SYSTEM ONTO A MORE WESTWARD TRACK. IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD, LOW CONFIDENCE REMAINS DUE TO THE UNCERTAIN IMPACT OF THE MONSOON DEPRESSION, DESIGNATED AS 94W, ON A SEPARATE STR OVER HONSHU. A STRONGER 94W WOULD ERODE THE STR, CREATING A WEAKNESS THAT WOULD ALLOW TY 17W TO SLOW AND TURN POLEWARD, BRINGING THE SYSTEM CLOSER TO THE NORTHERN RYUKYU ISLANDS AND KYUSHU. ON THE OTHER HAND, A WEAKER 94W WOULD LEAVE THE STR INTACT, CAUSING TY 17W TO CONTINUE ON A MORE WESTWARD TRAJECTORY TOWARD THE SOUTHERN OR CENTRAL RYUKYU ISLANDS. THE JTWC FORECAST CURRENTLY FAVORS THE LATTER SCENARIO AND DEPICTS A MORE ZONAL TRACK AT TAU 96 AND TAU 120. RAPID INTENSIFICATION (RI) BEGAN APPROXIMATELY 24 HOURS AGO AND WILL CONTINUE. OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS, TY 17W WILL TRAVERSE VERY HIGH OHC WITHIN A LOW-SHEAR ENVIRONMENT. CONSEQUENTLY, THE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO RAPIDLY DEEPEN TO A PEAK INTENSITY OF 125 KTS AT TAU 48. AFTERWARD, THE INTENSIFICATION PHASE WILL END AS THE SYSTEM MOVES OVER PROGRESSIVELY LOWER OHC. A STEADY WEAKENING TREND WILL COMMENCE AT TAU 96, DRIVEN BY LOWER SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES, UPWELLING OF COOLER WATERS CAUSED BY A SLOWING FORWARD MOTION, AND INCREASING VWS. MODEL DISCUSSION: THE TRACK GUIDANCE SUITE IS IN EXCELLENT AGREEMENT THROUGH TAU 60, WITH A CROSS-TRACK SPREAD OF LESS THAN 60 NM. THE UNCERTAINTY SPREAD INCREASES SIGNIFICANTLY TO 410 NM AT TAU 120, WITH GFS ANCHORING THE POLEWARD SIDE AND ECMWF ON THE OPPOSITE EDGE. VERY NOTABLY, THE PREVIOUS SPLIT BETWEEN THE AI AND PHYSICS-BASED MODELS IS NO MORE. THE TWO MODEL TYPES ARE NOW WELL INTERMINGLED NEAR THE CENTER OF THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE. THE JTWC CONSENSUS (CONW) IS NEARLY IDENTICAL TO THE AI CONSENSUS. REFLECTING THIS, THE JTWC FORECAST TRACK IS POSITIONED ALONG A BLEND OF CONW AND THE AI CONSENSUS WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE THROUGH TAU 72 AND LOW CONFIDENCE THEREAFTER. NUMEROUS RI AIDS HAVE TRIGGERED, AND THE RELIABLE INTENSITY AIDS UNANIMOUSLY DEPICT SIGNIFICANT STRENGTHENING. THE SHIP RI INDEX GIVES AN 85 PERCENT PROBABILITY OF A 30-KT INCREASE IN SPEED OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND A 50 PERCENT PROBABILITY OF A 65-KT INCREASE OVER THE NEXT 72 HOURS. THE JTWC INTENSITY FORECAST IS SET WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE AT THE UPPER END OF THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE, POSITIONED CLOSEST TO THE AGGRESSIVE RATES OF DEVELOPMENT PREDICTED BY THE COAMPS-TC, HAFS-A, AND THE EXPERIMENTAL GOOGLE DEEPMIND MODELS. THE FORECAST PEAK OF 125 KTS IS BELOW THE 130 KT PEAK FROM COAMPS-TC AND THE 140 KT PEAK FROM HAFS-A BUT IS ABOVE THE 115 KT PEAK OF DEEPMIND. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 00-72 HR: HIGH TRACK 72-120 HR: LOW INTENSITY 00-72 HR: MEDIUM INTENSITY 72-120 HR: MEDIUM// NNNN