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<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />suspected to adversely impact experimentation were rated as "yes". None of the potential <br />experimental areas. contained any wilderness with the exception of the White Mountains <br />in Arizona where a small wilderness area exists in the center of the potential <br />experimental area. However, the wilderness area is small enough that needed <br />observations likely could be made around it. <br /> <br />13. Avalanche danger <br /> <br />Avalanche danger to towns or highways was rated "no" in many cases because no towns <br />or highways exist within the potential experimental area. The central San Juans are <br />known to be especially prone to av81anche danger, and highway 550 has had more <br />avalanches than any other highway in the United States. It would be imprudent to seed <br />where even the perception was present of significantly increasing avalanche danger. <br /> <br />Examination of Table 2 reveals that most potential areas are not suitable for low-level <br />aircraft sampling. Without such sampling, major uncertainties would exist in the location <br />of the seeded zone, and in the effectiveness of the seeding material in converting cloud <br />liquid water to ice crystals and snowflakes. Consequently, only the six areas rated <br />practical for low-level aircraft sampling will be considered further. Some of them would <br />also be unsuitable on other grounds as can be seen from Table 2. The six remaining <br />potential areas are the White River Plateau, the Grand Mesa and the Uncompahgre <br />Plateau, all in Colorado, the Boulder Mountain area and Wasatch Plateau of Utah, and <br />the Chuska Mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. <br /> <br />More detailed study of these areas revealed the following potential problems: <br /> <br />1. White River Plateau <br /> <br />Most of the northern portion of the White River Plateau is a wilderness area. While <br />experimentation could be conducted on the southern"portion, it would be impractical to <br />investigate the important question of downwind effects with southwesterly winds because <br />instrumentation could not be operated within the wilderness area. The shape of the <br />barrier suggests that most snowfall is associated with southwesterly flow. No winter road <br />access exists to the top of the Plateau. <br /> <br />2. Grand Mesa <br /> <br />The Mesa has an east-west major axis, unlike the majority of mountain ranges in the <br />Basin. However, it has several advantages for experimentation and was a site for winter <br />weather modification studies from 1983-1986. Only two months of seeding were <br />conducted during that period, resulting in some very successful direct detection <br />experiments with both ground-based and aerial seeding. Low-level aircraft operations <br />were practical. Operational cloud seeding was applied to the Mesa prior to these <br />experiments, and again very recently, indicating a serious local interest in the technology. <br />Studies conducted during the mid-1980's concentrated on the narrower west end of the <br />Mesa because of excellent road access. However, the much broader east end would be <br />significantly more suitable for seeding experiments because of greater time for ice crystal <br />growth and fallout. There is no winter road access to the top of the Mesa on the eastern <br /> <br />11 <br />