MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR SUPER TYPHOON 31W (YUTU) WARNING NR 18// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUPER TYPHOON (STY) 31W (YUTU), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 267 NM NORTHWEST OF ANDERSEN AFB, GUAM, HAS TRACKED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT 09 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED (EIR) SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES A GRADUAL WEAKENING TREND WITH AN ASYMMETRIC CONVECTIVE STRUCTURE, HOWEVER, RECENT EIR SHOWS A RE- DEVELOPING, IRREGULAR EYE. THIS WEAKENING TREND IS PRIMARILY ASSOCIATED WITH AN EYEWALL REPLACEMENT CYCLE, WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE NOW COMPLETED AS EVIDENT IN A 251848Z SSMIS 91GHZ IMAGE. THE SSMIS IMAGE SHOWS A BANDING FEATURE OVER THE NORTHERN SEMICIRCLE WITH AN EYEWALL SURROUNDING A 50NM DIAMETER MICROWAVE EYE FEATURE, WHICH SUPPORTS THE INITIAL POSITION WITH GOOD CONFIDENCE. DESPITE THE RECENT WEAKENING TREND, THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS HELD AT SUPER TYPHOON STRENGTH (130 KNOTS) BASED ON A PGTW DVORAK CURRENT INTENSITY ESTIMATE OF 127 KNOTS, CONSISTENT WITH A 251622Z SATCON ESTIMATE OF 132 KNOTS. STY 31W IS TRACKING WEST-NORTHWESTWARD ALONG THE SOUTHWEST PERIPHERY OF A DEEP SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) POSITIONED TO THE NORTHEAST WITH A BREAK IN THE STR LOCATED SOUTH OF HONSHU (NORTH OF THE SYSTEM) ASSOCIATED WITH A BROAD, WEAK MIDLATITUDE SHORTWAVE TROUGH. 3. FORECAST REASONING. A. THERE IS NO CHANGE TO THE FORECAST PHILOSOPHY SINCE THE PREVIOUS PROGNOSTIC REASONING MESSAGE. B. STY 31W IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE TRACKING WEST-NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE BREAK IN THE STR THROUGH TAU 36, HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM SHOULD GRADUALLY TURN MORE WESTWARD AFTER TAU 36 AS THE AFOREMENTIONED SHORTWAVE TROUGH PROPAGATES EASTWARD AND A BROAD MIDLATITUDE RIDGE TO THE NORTH ALLOWS THE STR TO RE-BUILD. EXCLUDING THE PRIMARY OUTLIER, COAMPS-TC (CTCX), DYNAMIC MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN FAIR AGREEMENT THROUGH TAU 72 WITH A 225NM SPREAD IN SOLUTIONS AT TAU 72. STY 31W IS EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN STY STRENGTH THROUGH TAU 12 AS THE EYEWALL RE-STRENGTHENS AND THE EYE CONTRACTS. HOWEVER, AFTER TAU 12, THE SYSTEM SHOULD GRADUALLY WEAKEN AS VERTICAL WIND SHEAR INCREASES. C. BEYOND TAU 72, THERE IS INCREASING UNCERTAINTY IN THE FORECAST TRACK WITH TWO DISTINCT CLUSTERS OF MODEL GUIDANCE. ECMWF, UKMET, JGSM AND AFUM INDICATE A MORE WESTWARD TRACK OVER LUZON ISLAND. HWRF, COAMPS-TC, GFS, NAVGEM, EEMN AND AEMN INDICATE A RE-CURVE SCENARIO WITH SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE RE-CURVE TIMING AND TRACK SPEEDS AFTER TAU 72. BASED ON ANALYSIS OF MODEL FIELDS FROM BOTH CLUSTERS, THE RE-CURVE SCENARIO IS ASSESSED AS UNLIKELY DUE TO A LACK OF A DEEP MIDLATITUDE SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND THE PRESENCE OF A LOW-LEVEL RIDGE FORECAST TO BUILD OVER THE EAST CHINA SEA. THE JTWC FORECAST TRACK FAVORS A MORE WESTWARD TRACK WITH A DECREASE IN TRACK SPEEDS ASSOCIATED WITH A BREAK IN THE STR AND INCREASING NORTHEASTERLY LOW-LEVEL FLOW FORECAST TO DEVELOP EAST OF TAIWAN. BASED ON THE BIFURCATION IN THE DYNAMIC MODELS AND LARGE SPREAD, THERE IS LOW CONFIDENCE IN THIS PORTION OF THE JTWC FORECAST TRACK.// NNNN NNNN