WMOD00453

• Project Name: Park Range Atmospheric Water Resources Program
• Title: Park Range Atmospheric Water Resources Program - Phase I
• Date: 1/1/1967
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

28

PARK RANGE ATMOSPHERIC WATER RESOURCES PROGRAM

STATION DECEMBER 1964 JANUARY 1965 FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL
LAB 1 I I I I I I I I II I II I
LAB 2 I I I I II I II I
MT, HARRIS II I I II I II
MILNER I I II I I II I II
STEAMBOAT I I II I I II I II
CLARK I II I II I II I
MAD CREEK I I II I II I II
E-MERALD MT, I I III II
LUFKIN I II I I II I I I
OAK CREEK I II I II I II
DRY LAKE II I I I I III II I
BUFFALO II I I I III II II
FISH CREEK III .11 I I . I /II /I I J
LONG LAKE II I I I I III II II
BASE CAMP II I I I I I I I II II I II II
RABBIT EARS I I I I II I

Figure 40.-Storms Tracked by Precipitation-rate Sensors, December 1964 through April 1965.

also processed at our laboratory for ZnS to deter-
mine the natural background concentration of the
tracer. A high silver background was found at
severallocations-Mt. Lassen, Calif.; Flagstaff, Ariz.;
Mammoth Ski Area, Calif.; and Park Range, Colo"
where artificial nucleation operations are being con-
ducted; no significant ZnS concentrations were
found in the samples except for those taken at
Steamboat Springs.
Natural nuclei data from the Valley View Lodge
location were taken throughout the winter and
spring twice a day.

Precipitation Data
For comparative evaluation purposes, a set of
precipitation sensors was installed at the laboratory
between 1 December and 15 December 1964. They
included an optical sensor, heated tipping-bucket
sensor, snow-pillow, compressed scale weighing gage
and shielded snow-board. The decision to use the
optical sensor for precipitation-rate measurements
was made in the first week of January and five units
were installed by 15 January 1965. All 15 network
stations were in operation by 1 February 1965. To
1 May 1965, 26 storm sequences were tracked
through the network. Not all stations tracked all
storms; figure 40 lists each station and depicts the
storms that the station tracked successfully.
The network was converted to rain-rate sensing
on 1 June 1965; this will be the primary data source

through 1 October 1965 when-in Phase II-the net-
work is again converted to snow-rate sensing.
The compressed-scale weighing gage at the labora-
tory has been in operation throughout the winter
and spring. Its reduced data is shown in table 2.
Climatological station data for the period 1
November 1964 to 1 May 1965 are listed in Appen-
dix D, Section I. All stations are within a radius
of about 40 miles of Steamboat Springs, and their
locations are shown in figure 5.
Other precipitation data were taken for sensor
evaluation or spot-check purposes; they are not in-
cluded in this report.

Meteorological Data

Wind and teniperature data from the five meteor-
ological stations in the network have been collected
since mid-January 1965. Dual data are available
from the Emerald Mountain site for diffusion pre-
diction. Appendix D, Section II, lists pertinent data
for each storm period. Temperature data from the
seven daily climatological stations is also included
in Appendix D, Section I.
Teletype Services A and C and the U.S. Weather
Bureau FAX charts provided synoptic data for
analysis. Complete data are available from 1
January 1965 for the western United States.
No useful radar data were obtained during Phase
I, except for ground-clutter pictures. The radar is
free of clutter for all azimuth angles at 70 mil
(_40) elevation. Installation of the radar jrawin-
sonde equipment occurred late, for a variety of