AN AREA OF CONVECTION (INVEST 94W) HAS PERSISTED NEAR 21.6N
144.7E, APPROXIMATELY 264 NM SOUTHEAST OF IWO TO, JAPAN. AANIMATED
ENHANCED INFRARED IMAGERY (EIR) AS WELL AS A 031122Z METOP-B ASCAT PASS
REVEAL A VERY BROAD AREA OF TURNING WITH FLARING CONVECTION OVER THE
EASTERN PERIPHERY WITH NO DISCERNABLE LLCC. THE AFOREMENTIONED ASCAT
PASS FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS THE WAVE LIKE NATURE OF THIS AREA (94W) WITH
WRAPPING 10-15KT WINDS ALONG THE EASTERN BOUNDARY AND WEAK MULTI
DIRECTIONAL WINDS ALONG THE WESTERN BOUNDARY. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
FOR THIS SYSTEM INDICATE MARGINALLY FAVORABLE CONDITIONS WITH LOW TO
MODERATE VERTICAL WIND SHEAR (15-20KT), WARM SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES
(28-29C) AND MODERATE OUTFLOW ALOFT. GLOBAL DETERMINISTIC MODELS ARE IN
GOOD AGREEMENT THAT 94W WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK WEST OVER THE NEXT 48-72
HOURS AND GRADUALLY CONSOLIDATE. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED SURFACE WINDS ARE
ESTIMATED AT 18 TO 23 KNOTS. MINIMUM SEA LEVEL PRESSURE IS ESTIMATED TO
BE NEAR 1011 MB. THE POTENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SIGNIFICANT
TROPICAL CYCLONE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS IS LOW.
THE AREA OF CONVECTION (INVEST 94W) PREVIOUSLY LOCATED NEAR
21.6N 144.7E IS NOW LOCATED NEAR 23.4N 143.1E, APPROXIMATELY 129 NM
SOUTHEAST OF IWO TO. ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS
AN OBSCURED, LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC) WITH PERSISTENT
CONVECTION OVER THE CENTER. A RECENT 040040Z ASCAT-C 25 KM PASS REVEALS
A CIRCULATION WITH 20-25 KNOTS ALONG THE EASTERN QUADRANT AND 5-15 KNOTS
ELSEWHERE. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS REVEALS A MARGINALLY FAVORABLE
ENVIRONMENT WITH LOW TO MODERATE LEVEL VERTICAL WIND SHEAR OF 15-20
KNOTS, GOOD DUAL CHANNEL UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW, AND WARM SEA SURFACE
TEMPERATURES (SST) OF 29-30 C. GLOBAL MODELS ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT UPON
INTENSITY BUT DO CONCUR WITH A WESTWARD TRACK TOWARD TAIWAN. MAXIMUM
SUSTAINED SURFACE WINDS ARE ESTIMATED AT 18 TO 23 KNOTS. MINIMUM SEA
LEVEL PRESSURE IS ESTIMATED TO BE NEAR 1006 MB. THE POTENTIAL FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS
IS UPGRADED TO MEDIUM.