Typhoon Choi-Wan category "5"

Super Typhoon (STY) 15w (Choi-Wan, located approximately 200 nm north-northwest of Saipan, has

tracked west-northwestward at 08 knots over the last 06
hours.
Recent animated infrared imagery shows an impressive,
well organized
system with multiple deep convective bands wrapping
around a defined
eye. A 151602z Aqua image shows a deep convective
eye-wall with
banding extending radially from the center. The system
remains in a
very favorable environment with high ocean heat content
, low
vertical windshear, and dual outflow channels into a
tropical upper
tropospheric trough to the east and equatorward. The
system
continues to track west-northwestward along the southern
periphery
of the low- to mid-level subtropical ridge (str) to the
north. Sty
15w will start to recurve around the western extent of
the str
around tau 48 and will start to accelerate to the
northeast in the
gradient flow between the str and an approaching
mid-latitude
trough. Along track speed after tau 72 has been increased
since the
last forecast.                                     

IMAGE CREDIT:NASA,WUNDERGROUND