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Since the post of a couple hours ago, *Major* Typhoon 'Tembin' has certainly made it's presence known across southern Taiwan. The amazingly symmetric eyewall structure has not only remained intact but, if anything, presents an even 'sharper' signature on passive satellite microwave imaging, and pressures have dropped another 3 millibars recently, now down to 941 mb, while the team at the JTWC (Joint Typhoon Warning Center, now located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, NOT Guam!) has also just increased the sustained winds to 110 knots (125 mph), while 'Tembin' continues WSW, steadily approaching imminent landfall across southern Taiwan. The good news is that Typhoon 'Tembin', though quite strong, is a rather compact cyclone, so it's core of strongest winds associated with the eyewall will remain confined to the southern half of Taiwan, thereby sparing the Capital of Taipei, located near the northwestern tip if the Island, a direct hit. From a Meteorological Perspective, I found the "Prognostic Reasoning" (Discussion) section of the JTWC website to be very interesting and thus yielding valuable insights into the synoptic, dynamic and morphological characteristics of Typhoon 'Tembin'. "TYPHOON 15W (TEMBIN), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 150 NM SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF TAIPEI, TAIWAN, HAS TRACKED WESTWARD AT 06 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THE EYE HAS BECOME MORE SYMMETRIC WITH THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM REMAINING WELL ORGANIZED AND COMPACT. THE DUAL BANDING FEATURES ALONG THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HALVES CONTINUE TO FEED THE LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC). UPPER LEVEL ANALYSIS INDICATES THE DUAL CHANNEL OUTFLOW TO THE POLEWARD AND EQUATORWARD DIRECTIONS HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN THE SYSTEM MAINTAINING THE CURRENT INTENSITY OF 105 KNOTS." (Or even *Increasing* to 110 Kts. all-the-while making landfall. Never underestimate the power of symmetry when it comes to Tropical Cyclones.) And although the satellite microwave signatures, above, depicts a nicely smoothed and homogenous band, doppler radar tells quite another story with regard to the ever-evolving concentric rainbands that comprise the inner eyewall structure. In this case, they even imply concentric eyewalls, although these may not be true concentric eyewalls in the traditional sense. Your thoughts on this matter ?? Anyone experienced reading the radar patterns of landfalling (hurricanes)? .. |