Monday, 28 January 2013

Current Southern Hemisphere Tropical Systems: Tropical Cyclone 13S Felleng




281500Z POSITION NEAR 13.4S 57.9E.
TROPICAL CYCLONE (TC) 13S (FELLENG) LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 500 NM 
NORTH-NORTHEAST OF LA REUNION, HAS TRACKED WESTWARD AT 10 KNOTS OVER 
THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY (MSI) 
REVEALS A TIGHTLY WRAPPED, IMPROVING SYSTEM WITH A SYMMETRIC CENTRAL 
DENSE OVERCAST FEATURE NOW OBSCURING THE LOW-LEVEL CIRCULATION 
CENTER (LLCC). UPPER-LEVEL ANALYSIS INDICATES A FURTHER IMPROVING 
ENVIRONMENT AS A POINT-SOURCE ANTICYCLONE IS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP 
OVER THE LLCC GIVING WAY TO AMPLE EQUATORWARD OUTFLOW WHICH IS BEING 
ASSISTED BY AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW NEAR 20S 75E AND LOW TO MODERATE (5-
15 KNOTS) SOUTHERLY VERTICAL WIND SHEAR (VWS). THE INITIAL POSITION 
IS BASED ON THE MSI IMAGERY AND SATELLITE POSITION FIXES FROM PGTW 
AND KNES.  THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS ASSESSED AT 45 KNOTS BASED ON 
CONGRUENT DVORAK INTENSITY ESTIMATES OF 45 KNOTS FROM BOTH PGTW AND 
KNES AND IS CONSISTENT WITH THE OVERALL IMPROVING STRUCTURE. TC 13S 
IS FORECAST TO TRACK WESTWARD UNDER THE STEERING INFLUENCE OF THE 
DEEP SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) THROUGH TAU 36 BUT WILL THEN TURN 
POLEWARD AND TRACK ALONG THE WESTERN PERIPHERY OF THE STR, WHICH IS 
FORECAST TO RE-ORIENT NORTH-SOUTH, AS A DEEP MIDLATITUDE TROUGH 
PROPAGATES TOWARDS MADAGASCAR. DUE TO FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTAL 
CONDITIONS, TC 13S IS EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY THROUGH THE FORECAST 
PERIOD TO A PEAK INTENSITY OF 75 KNOTS BY TAU 96. DYNAMIC MODEL 
GUIDANCE IS IN FAIR AGREEMENT THROUGH TAU 72 WITH ONLY SLIGHT 
DIFFERENCES IN THE TRACK AND TIMING OF THE POLEWARD TURN. AFTER TAU 
72, NOGAPS AND GFDN SHOW THE STR REBUILDING BACK IN SOUTH OF THE 
SYSTEM GIVING TC 13S A WESTWARD BIAS TOWARDS MADAGASCAR. GFS AND 
ECMWF, HOWEVER, MAINTAIN THE NORTH-SOUTH ORIENTED STR ALLOWING FOR 
THE MORE POLEWARD TRACK. BASED ON THESE DIFFERENCES IN THE MODEL 
SOLUTIONS, THE JTWC FORECAST FAVORS THE MULTI-MODEL CONSENSUS WITH 
LOW CONFIDENCE. MAXIMUM SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AT 281200Z IS 15 
FEET.
 
- JTWC + EUMETSAT 

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