I just discovered this HUGE Tropical Cyclone and am posting it here mostly for information related to the search for the plane in the Indian Ocean. There is NOW a Huge Tropical Cyclone heading directly for the same area!!! Just seen it posted as a CAT-5, Now!!! First, here is the main story due to the fact it has already struck at Christmas Island about a thousand miles north of Perth! You may wish to skip ahead and just check out those awesome pics. . . but here's the story: http://www.smh.com.au/national/tropical-cyclone-gillian-hits-christmas-island-20140322-359ou.html AND Here is the page dedicated to Tropical Cyclone #17, Gillian at Hurricane Zone.net: http://www.hurricanezone.net/#17p
Now the pics, first a huge overall shot showing the current location as of Sunday Morning as I am writing this give or take just a few hours: AND HERE is a Great shot of what it looks like from above in a Close-Shot:
The forecast appears to show it heading directly into the region where they are searching!!! @
Finally I copied all the forecast information from the above Hurricane Zone Page and will paste all of it at the end of this blog entry. All of this will only be valid through Sunday, March 23, 2014 as new forecasts will be updated beginning throughout the day and of course into Monday. That link above may update, though! Thank-You for Reading!!! EQ Guy
WTXS31 PGTW 230900
MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI//
SUBJ/TROPICAL CYCLONE 17P (GILLIAN) WARNING NR 011//
RMKS/
1. TROPICAL CYCLONE 17P (GILLIAN) WARNING NR 011
01 ACTIVE TROPICAL CYCLONE IN SOUTHIO
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS BASED ON ONE-MINUTE AVERAGE
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
---
WARNING POSITION:
230600Z --- NEAR 13.7S 103.6E
MOVEMENT PAST SIX HOURS - 210 DEGREES AT 08 KTS
POSITION ACCURATE TO WITHIN 020 NM
POSITION BASED ON EYE FIXED BY SATELLITE
PRESENT WIND DISTRIBUTION:
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 110 KT, GUSTS 135 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 064 KT WINDS - 035 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
040 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
040 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
035 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 050 KT WINDS - 065 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
070 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
070 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
065 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 110 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
120 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
115 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
105 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
REPEAT POSIT: 13.7S 103.6E
---
FORECASTS:
12 HRS, VALID AT:
231800Z --- 15.2S 103.0E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 110 KT, GUSTS 135 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 064 KT WINDS - 035 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
040 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
040 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
035 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 050 KT WINDS - 060 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
070 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
070 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
060 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 110 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
120 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
115 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
105 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 24 HR POSIT: 200 DEG/ 06 KTS
---
24 HRS, VALID AT:
240600Z --- 16.3S 102.6E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 100 KT, GUSTS 125 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 064 KT WINDS - 025 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
030 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
030 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
025 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 050 KT WINDS - 050 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
060 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
060 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
050 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 100 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
110 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
105 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
095 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 36 HR POSIT: 200 DEG/ 05 KTS
---
36 HRS, VALID AT:
241800Z --- 17.3S 102.2E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 085 KT, GUSTS 105 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 064 KT WINDS - 020 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
020 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
020 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
020 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 050 KT WINDS - 040 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
050 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
050 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
040 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 090 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
100 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
095 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
085 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 48 HR POSIT: 210 DEG/ 05 KTS
---
EXTENDED OUTLOOK:
48 HRS, VALID AT:
250600Z --- 18.2S 101.7E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 055 KT, GUSTS 070 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 050 KT WINDS - 030 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
040 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
040 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
030 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 080 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
090 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
085 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
075 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 72 HR POSIT: 230 DEG/ 05 KTS
---
72 HRS, VALID AT:
260600Z --- 19.5S 100.1E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 040 KT, GUSTS 050 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
DISSIPATING AS A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE OVER WATER
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 070 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
080 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
075 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
065 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 96 HR POSIT: 240 DEG/ 04 KTS
---
LONG RANGE OUTLOOK:
---
96 HRS, VALID AT:
270600Z --- 20.2S 98.7E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 030 KT, GUSTS 040 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
DISSIPATED AS A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE OVER WATER
---
REMARKS:
230900Z POSITION NEAR 14.1S 103.5E.
TROPICAL CYCLONE (TC) 17P (GILLIAN), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 790 NM
NORTHWEST OF LEARMONTH, AUSTRALIA, HAS TRACKED SOUTH-SOUTHWESTWARD
AT 08 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL
SATELLITE IMAGERY (MSI) REVEALS TC GILLION HAS CONTINUED TO RAPIDLY
DEEPEN INTO AN INTENSE SYSTEM AS THE CONVECTION HAS IMPROVED AROUND
A 15NM SLIGHTLY IRREGULAR EYE. A 230305Z TRMM MICROWAVE IMAGE SHOWS
A THICK RING OF DEEP CONVECTION IN THE EYEWALL WITH IMPROVED BANDING
IN ALL QUADRANTS. THE INITIAL POSITION IS BASED UPON THE EYE FEATURE
IN THE MSI LOOP WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE. THE INITIAL INTENSITY HAS BEEN
INCREASED TO 110 KTS BASED ON AVERAGE OF DVORAK INTENSITY ESTIMATES
THAT RANGE FROM 102 TO 115 KNOTS. UPPER-LEVEL ANALYSIS REVEALS A
FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT AS A POINT SOURCE ANTICYCLONE HAS DEVELOPED
OVER THE SYSTEM WHICH IS PROVIDING LOW (05 TO 10 KNOTS) VERTICAL
WIND SHEAR (VWS) AND VIGOROUS POLEWARD AND EQUATORWARD OUTFLOW. TC
17P IS CURRENTLY TRACKING POLEWARD ALONG THE NORTHWESTERN PERIPHERY
OF A DEEP-LAYERED SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) THAT POSITIONED TO THE
SOUTHEAST OF THE SYSTEM. TC GILLION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG
THIS STR THROUGH TAU 36 UNTIL A WEAK MID-LATITUDE TROUGH WELL TO THE
SOUTH WILL SLIGHTLY WEAKEN THE STR AND CAUSE THE CYCLONE TO SLOW
DOWN. AFTER TAU 24, A WEAKENING TREND IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN AS VWS
INCREASES FROM THE APPROACHING TROUGH. AFTER TAU 48, A SECONDARY STR
TRAILING THE TROUGH, WILL BUILD TO THE SOUTHWEST AND BEGIN TO MOVE A
WEAKENING TC 17P WESTWARD. VWS WILL GREATLY INCREASE AFTER TAU 48 AS
THE SYSTEM SWITCHES STEERING INFLUENCES AND WILL INDUCE A RAPID
WEAKENING TREND WHICH WILL DISSIPATE THE SYSTEM BELOW WARNING
THRESHOLD BY TAU 96. NUMERIC MODEL GUIDANCE IS SLIGHTLY SPREAD, BUT
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF COAMPS-TC AND NAVGEM, GENERALLY SUPPORTS THE
WESTWARD TRACK IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD. DUE TO THIS, THE JTWC
FORECAST TRACK IS POSITIONED CLOSE TO MULTI-MODEL CONSENSUS WITH LOW
CONFIDENCE. MAXIMUM SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AT 230600Z IS 31 FEET.
NEXT WARNINGS AT 232100Z AND 240900Z.//