Twenty
Western Pacific
Tropical Depression · WP202026
16.7°N,
161.4°E
Moving SE at 7 mph
Max Winds
35 mph
Pressure
1002 mb
Forecast Points
6
Summary
Tropical Depression 20W is a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. As of 270000Z, it was located about 335 nautical miles west-southwest of Wake Island and had been moving southeast at about 7 mph over the past six hours.
JTWC expects the storm to turn eastward in the short term, then gradually turn northeast and then north after about 24 hours as steering winds shift. Forecast positions keep the system over water while it moves generally east and then north through the next couple of days.
Some strengthening is possible after about 12 hours as wind shear decreases, but development is expected to be limited by weak outflow aloft, dry air, and episodes of shear linked to Tropical Depression 21W. The forecast calls for a peak near 45 knots (about 52 mph) around 48 hours, followed by weakening as 20W is captured and absorbed into Tropical Depression 21W between about 36 and 48 hours, and dissipates as a significant tropical cyclone by about 72 hours. Significant wave height was 12 feet at 270000Z.
Key messages
- Tropical Depression 20W has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and is forecast to turn from an eastward motion to a northeastward and then northward track over the next 1–2 days.
- A brief strengthening trend is possible, with a forecast peak near 52 mph around 48 hours before the system weakens.
- The system is expected to be captured and absorbed into Tropical Depression 21W, dissipating as a significant tropical cyclone by about 72 hours.
Forecast intensity
JTWC forecast maximum sustained winds (mph) by hour.
Satellite Imagery (IR)
CIRA/RAMMB · 27 Aug 04:10 UTC
JTWC Warning #4 27 Aug 00:00 UTC
WTPN33 PGTW 270300
MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI//
SUBJ/TROPICAL DEPRESSION 20W (TWENTY) WARNING NR 004//
RMKS/
1. TROPICAL DEPRESSION 20W (TWENTY) WARNING NR 004
03 ACTIVE TROPICAL CYCLONES IN NORTHWESTPAC
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS BASED ON ONE-MINUTE AVERAGE
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
---
WARNING POSITION:
270000Z --- NEAR 16.7N 161.4E
MOVEMENT PAST SIX HOURS - 135 DEGREES AT 06 KTS
POSITION ACCURATE TO WITHIN 040 NM
POSITION BASED ON CENTER LOCATED BY SATELLITE
PRESENT WIND DISTRIBUTION:
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 030 KT, GUSTS 040 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
REPEAT POSIT: 16.7N 161.4E
---
FORECASTS:
12 HRS, VALID AT:
271200Z --- 17.0N 163.2E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 030 KT, GUSTS 040 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
VECTOR TO 24 HR POSIT: 050 DEG/ 11 KTS
---
24 HRS, VALID AT:
280000Z --- 18.4N 164.9E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 035 KT, GUSTS 045 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 020 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
030 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
020 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
000 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 36 HR POSIT: 020 DEG/ 12 KTS
---
36 HRS, VALID AT:
281200Z --- 20.7N 165.9E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 040 KT, GUSTS 050 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 050 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
050 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
020 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
000 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 48 HR POSIT: 005 DEG/ 13 KTS
---
EXTENDED OUTLOOK:
48 HRS, VALID AT:
290000Z --- 23.2N 166.1E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 045 KT, GUSTS 055 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 060 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
060 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
020 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
040 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 60 HR POSIT: 350 DEG/ 14 KTS
---
60 HRS, VALID AT:
291200Z --- 25.9N 165.7E
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 - 100 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT
090 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
030 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT
050 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT
VECTOR TO 72 HR POSIT: 355 DEG/ 18 KTS
---
72 HRS, VALID AT:
300000Z --- 29.4N 165.4E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 030 KT, GUSTS 040 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY
DISSIPATED AS A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE OVER WATER
---
REMARKS:
270300Z POSITION NEAR 16.8N 161.9E. 27AUG26. TROPICAL DEPRESSION 20W
(TWENTY), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 335 NM WEST-SOUTHWEST OF WAKE ISLAND,
HAS TRACKED SOUTHEASTWARD AT 06 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. MINIMUM
CENTRAL PRESSURE AT 270000Z IS 1002 MB. MAXIMUM SIGNIFICANT WAVE
HEIGHT AT 270000Z IS 12 FEET. NEXT WARNINGS AT 270900Z, 271500Z,
272100Z AND 280300Z. REFER TO TYPHOON 17W (SAUDEL) WARNINGS (WTPN31
PGTW) FOR SIX-HOURLY UPDATES. REFER TO TROPICAL DEPRESSION 21W
(TWENTYONE) WARNINGS (WTPN32 PGTW) FOR SIX-HOURLY UPDATES.//
NNNN
Forecast Reasoning 27 Aug 03:00 UTC
WDPN33 PGTW 270300 MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI// SUBJ/PROGNOSTIC REASONING FOR TROPICAL DEPRESSION 20W (TWENTY) WARNING NR 004// RMKS/ 1. FOR METEOROLOGISTS. 2. 6 HOUR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. SUMMARY: INITIAL POSITION: 16.7N 161.4E INITIAL INTENSITY: 30 KTS GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: 335 NM WEST-SOUTHWEST OF WAKE ISLAND MOVEMENT PAST 6 HOURS: SOUTHEASTWARD AT 06 KTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT: 12 FEET SATELLITE ANALYSIS, INITIAL POSITION AND INTENSITY DISCUSSION: ANIMATED MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY (MSI) DEPICTS A COMPACT AND FULLY EXPOSED LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC) WHICH HAS UNEXPECTEDLY MOVED SOUTHEASTWARD OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. DEEP CONVECTION HAS WANED OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS, AND BEEN PERSISTENTLY DISPLACED TO THE NORTH DUE TO MODERATE SOUTHERLY MID-LEVEL SHEAR. HOWEVER, IN THE LAST HOUR, DEEP CONVECTION HAS ONCE AGAIN BEGUN TO FORM VERY NEAR THE LLCC, PARTICULARLY FOCUSED ON THE NORTHERN FLANK. CIMSS DEEP-LAYER SHEAR ANALYSIS SHOWS LIGHT SOUTHERLY SHEAR, BUT MORE MODERATE MID-LEVEL SHEAR, WHICH SUPPORTS THE SATELLITE DEPICTION. THE INITIAL POSITION IS ASSESSED WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE BASED ON THE EXPOSED LLCC IN THE MSI. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS ASSESSED WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE, BASED ON A BLEND OF THE OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE INTENSITY ESTIMATES NOTED BELOW. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE MARGINAL, CHARACTERIZED BY WEAK OUTFLOW ALOFT, LOW DEEP-LAYER AND MODERATE MID- LEVEL SHEAR AND WARM SSTS. INITIAL WIND RADII BASIS: NOT APPLICABLE (THERE ARE NO INITIAL WIND RADII). CURRENT STEERING MECHANISM: WEAK STEERING PATTERN. AGENCY DVORAK AND AUTOMATED FIXES: PGTW: T2.0 - 30 KTS RJTD: T1.5 - 25 KTS PHFO: T2.0 - 30 KTS CIMSS ADT: 35 KTS AT 262340Z CIMSS AIDT: 36 KTS AT 262340Z CIMSS D-MINT: 24 KTS AT 261958Z CIMSS D-PRINT: 26 KTS AT 262340Z FORECASTER ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: MARGINAL VWS: 5-10 KTS SST: 29-30 CELSIUS OUTFLOW: WEAK POLEWARD OTHER FACTORS: BINARY INTERACTION WITH TD 21W. ANALYSIS CONFIDENCE: INITIAL POSITION: HIGH INITIAL INTENSITY: MEDIUM INITIAL WIND RADII: NOT APPLICABLE 3. FORECAST REASONING. SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES: THE FORECAST HAS BEEN TRUNCATED TO 72 HOURS AND NOW CALLS FOR THE SYSTEM TO DISSIPATE BY MEANS OF ABSORPTION INTO TD 21W. FORECAST DISCUSSION: TROPICAL DEPRESSION (TD) 20W UNEXPECTEDLY TRACKED SOUTHEASTWARD OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. WHILE THE SPECIFIC FORECAST DID NOT ANTICIPATE THIS TRACK VECTOR, THE 12Z AND 18Z ECMWF MODEL DID A GOOD JOB PICKING IT UP AND APPEARS TO HAVE INITIALIZED THE BEST OF ALL THE GLOBAL MODELS. GOING FORWARD, THE STEERING GRADIENT IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY SHIFT FROM THE WEST SIDE OF THE CIRCULATION TO THE SOUTHERN FLANK, ALONG THE NORTHERN EDGE OF A BAND OF STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY MONSOONAL WINDS WHICH EXTENDS FROM GUAM TO EAST OF TD 21W. TD 20W IS ALREADY STARTING TO TURN EASTWARD BASED ON THE LATEST MSI FRAMES, AND THIS TREND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE SHORT-TERM, THOUGH SOME ADDITIONAL ERRATIC MOTION IS LIKELY OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS, ESPECIALLY IF THE RECENTLY DEVELOPED CONVECTION CAN STICK AND THE LLCC ATTEMPTS TO ALIGN. TD 20W IS FORECAST TO TURN GRADUALLY NORTHEAST, THEN NORTH AFTER TAU 24 AS IT RIDES UP THE WEST SIDE OF AN EXTENSION OF THE STR WHICH PUSHES SOUTHWARD ALONG THE DATELINE. AT THIS POINT, THE SYSTEM WILL BEGIN DIRECT BINARY INTERACTION WITH TD 21W, AND IS EXPECTED TO BE FULLY CAPTURED BY 21W BETWEEN TAU 36 AND TAU 48. ONCE CAPTURED, TD 20W WILL FOLLOW IN THE LEE OF 21W AND BEGIN TO EMBED WITHIN ITS WIND FIELD. REGARDING INTENSITY, 20W IS CURRENTLY 415NM SOUTHWEST OF TD 21W, FAR ENOUGH DISTANT THAT THE OUTFLOW ASSOCIATED WITH 21W IS NOT DIRECTLY IMPACTING 20W YET. MODEL FIELDS SUGGEST A REDUCTION IN SHEAR IN THE NEAR-TERM, WHICH SHOULD ALLOW FOR A PERIOD OF INTENSIFICATION AFTER TAU 12. TD 20W WILL HOWEVER STRUGGLE WITH LIMITED OUTFLOW ALOFT AND THE INFLUENCE OF DRY AIR AS WELL AS BURSTS OF OUTFLOW INDUCED SHEAR FROM 21W, WHICH WILL INHIBIT DEVELOPMENT. THE PEAK OF 45 KNOTS IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR AROUND TAU 48, BY WHICH POINT 20W WILL BEGIN TO BE ABSORBED INTO 21W. THE SYSTEM QUOTE DISSIPATES UNQUOTE BY TAU 72 AS IT IS FULLY INTEGRATED INTO THE WIND FIELD OF 21W THOUGH IT IS EXPECTED TO RETAIN AN ASYMMETRIC WIND FIELD OF AT LEAST 30 KNOTS AS IT DOES SO. MODEL DISCUSSION: TRACK GUIDANCE IS IN POOR AGREEMENT, THOUGH THE EXACT VALUES OF CROSS-TRACK SPREAD BECOME DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN AFTER TAU 24, AS THE MODELS ARE BEGINNING TO JUMP CIRCULATIONS BETWEEN 20W AND 21W AS THEY UNDERGO BINARY INTERACTION, CAPTURE AND MERGER. IN GENERAL HOWEVER, MODEL SPREAD BETWEEN THE GFS AND NAVGEM OPENS UP TO AT LEAST 500NM BY TAU 72, WITH EVEN HIGHER SPREAD BETWEEN THE NAVGEM AND THE EC-AIFS. THE BULK OF THE GUIDANCE HOWEVER SUPPORTS A GRADUAL TURN NORTHWARD IN THE WAKE OF TD 21W, INCLUDING THE ECMWF, WHICH NOTABLY SHIFTED TRACK POLEWARD THOUGH THIS MAY BE AN ARTIFACT OF IT JUMPING CIRCULATIONS. THE JTWC FORECAST IS PLACED NEAR THE MULTI-MODEL CONSENSUS MEAN, WITH VERY LOW CONFIDENCE. INTENSITY GUIDANCE IS SUFFERING FROM THE SAME ISSUES OF CIRCULATION JUMPING AS THE TRACK GUIDANCE, WHICH RESULTS IN THE MODELS DEPICTING A SHARP INTENSIFICATION TREND, WHICH IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY. THE HAFS-A SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY MODEL WITH A GOOD HANDLE ON THE OVERALL SITUATION, DEPICTING SOME INTENSIFICATION FOLLOWED BY A GRADUAL WEAKENING BEFORE IT TOO SUCCUMBS TO THE JUMPING TREND. THE JTWC FORECAST IS PLACED NEAR THE HAFS-A SOLUTION THROUGH TAU 48 THEN DEVIATES SHARPLY LOWER THAN ALL THE GUIDANCE MEMBERS, WITH LOW CONFIDENCE. FORECAST CONFIDENCE: TRACK 00-72 HR: LOW INTENSITY 00-72 HR: LOW// NNNN
Products not available for West Pacific storms
- NEXRAD radar — no radar coverage over the open West Pacific.
- Storm-surge inundation — no public storm-surge model for this basin.
- Wind-speed probabilities — JTWC does not publish them.
- Watches and warnings — issued by local agencies (PAGASA, JMA, CWA), not JTWC.
- Reconnaissance aircraft — no routine aircraft reconnaissance in the West Pacific.
- Rapid-intensification and shear diagnostics — SHIPS-based guidance is not published for this basin.
These are data-availability limits for the West Pacific basin, not omissions.
Source: U.S. Navy/Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), via the UCAR Tropical Cyclone Guidance Project. JTWC data is in the public domain. · Updated 2026-08-27 03:10 UTC · JMA analysis: Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (10-minute average winds). Satellite imagery: CIRA/RAMMB.