Laserfiche WebLink
<br />One characteristic of a supercell is that at some poip.t it exhibits a "right-turning" motion relative <br />to the direction of the mean steering wind. <br />Supercells are among the most dangerous variety of clouds to deal with both from a cloud <br />seeding aspect as well as a crop and property damage aspect. Hail is capable of being ejected <br />from these clouds in any direction and occasionally can endarlger seeding aircraft several miles <br />distant from it. Supercells also produce the most destructive tornadoes (on the Fujita Scale types <br />F3 - F5), however, not all supercells produce tornadoes; somt~ estimates indicate about 20%- <br />25% of all supercells may produce a tornado. <br /> <br />During the WKWMP 32-years of seeding supercells to prevent hail we've also had <br />serendipity: We've found out seeding to reduce hail in these storms might also be producing the <br />effect of inadvertent tornado-mitigation. The expectation that cloud seeding can accomplish <br />tornado mitigation is not new and earlier had been theorized by others. The WKWMP is the only <br />cloud seeding group in the USA that has been uniquely able to test the theory over a protracted <br />period of time. We are one of only two cloud seeding programs in the United States that seeds all <br />severe storms. We often prefer to seed storms that have a funnel cloud or a tornado in progress <br />because they are usually the most intense storms; devastating hail almost always accompanies <br />them. They usually travel great distances across our target area and are most responsible for <br />causing a disproportionately large percentage ofthe total seasonal crop-hail damage on a given <br />day. <br /> <br />Conceptually, it's not completely clear why, or how, a massive water-to-ice conversion <br />process that releases vast amounts of latent heat inside a supercell may be able to mitigate a <br />tornado. Even cloud physicists who are expert in tornado development don't totally understand <br />why tornados form, although they are homing in on this knowledge more all the time, albeit, <br />little by little. However, the relevance of this seeding effect is useful to the general community <br />within the target area we attempt to protect; we have come to expect that the proper seeding of <br />supercells probably mitigate tornado severity in tornado-bearing storms. But, this bears <br />repeating: If inadvertent tornado mitigation really is 'occurring, adeauate amounts of seeding <br />agent must be well-dispersed within the new growth clouds which feed into the primary <br />updraft(s) of the complex storm system. Storms which are abandoned, or not well-seeded, often <br />seem to be prone to producing a tornado in short order, because the cloud is returning to its <br />natural, or near-natural, state. This can happen swiftly, too, within perhaps as few as 20-30 <br />minutes (estimated) after seeding ends. ' <br /> <br />The cloud system known as a squall line is an organized line of cumulonimbus clouds <br />many miles in length. Important updraft areas are found along its advancing cloud edges. <br />Updrafts important to the precipitation and hail processes are seldom found along the trailing <br />edges of these lines except at its tail-end, or at significant breaks within the line. Squall lines can <br />be extensive, crossing a few counties within a state, or even crossing several states; frequently <br />squall lines are associated with surface troughing ahead of frontal passages or axis of low-level <br />atmospheric moisture pools along drylines. Updrafts can easily exceed 2,000 - 4,000 feet per <br />minute and produce "scud" clouds visible nearly to the ground. Ahead of the squall line, updraft <br />areas are usually smooth. <br /> <br />10 <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />