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<br />NEWSLETTER 95 - 2 <br /> <br />RECEIVED - <br />~~V 0 1 1996 <br /> <br />FOR THE P~RIOD APRIL 20 - <br /> <br />. COloradO' War <br />. Conservation So er d <br />APRIL 26, 1996 ~ <br /> <br />GENERAL INTEREST: On March 19th and 20th this year, a Hail Damage <br />Mitigation and Hail Science conference was held in Bismarck, North <br />Dakota. Its purpose was to "educate" property insurance industry <br />representatives about the underpinnings of the technology of hail <br />suppression, i.e., its scientific basis, how it was accomplished, <br />where it has been performed and what have been the results. Never <br />before, to my knowledge, has there' been a gathering of such a <br />diverse group of weather modification-related people assembled <br />specifically to provide a special interest group such a wide array <br />of information, about hail suppression in such a,short time. It was <br />" an ambiti.p\!,. l,mdertaking put together on rcl;;\ti-"'"ly,short notice by <br />the director of the N6r~h Dakota Atmospheric Resource Board, Mr. <br />Bruce Boe. ' <br /> <br />Probably the reason for this sudden gathering was that some <br />from the property and casualty insurance companies wanted to play <br />"catch-up" tc their Canadian counterparts. It turns out that, after <br />an 8-year effort, a group of Canadian insurers finally were able to <br />organize and sponsor a first-time-ever hail suppression program set <br />to run June 15 - September 15, 1996 specifically to limit hail <br />damage to the city of Calgary, Alberta as well as to some secondary <br />city and village targets. Seeding to reduce hail suppression in <br />crop qrowinq areas will not be performed. <br /> <br />Between 19B3 and 1991 Alberta insurers lost C$338 million to <br />hail damage, C$207 m~llion of it from just one storm in Calgary, <br />Since 1981 weather related catastrophes have cost Canadian insurers <br />over C$l billion in damage to vehicles and property. Annual hail <br />suppression operational program costs will run C$l, 200,000 and <br />C$200,000 for administration; in U.S. dollars the combined total is <br />,just a tad over $1 million. The project is expected to run 5 years. <br /> <br />The outcome of the Bismarck conference was that the insurers' <br />rep.teseatatives seemed a bit apprehensive that the hail damage <br />results from suppression crop-hail damage might not be transferable <br />to property losses, Some feelings surfaced which ran along the <br />theme that because it may have worked to reduce hail in the,farm <br />patch doesn't mean it will do so in cities. Prove it! <br /> <br />Data emanating from the Western Kansas Weather Modification <br />Program probably has the best chance of proving whether property <br />damage is reduced by hail suppression seeding (despite our lacking <br />optimum numbers of aircraft over the years). The reason why this <br />may be true has to do with the way the only other long-term hail <br />suppression program in the United States is run (in North Dakota). <br />There they have, some "safeguards against potentially hazardous <br />effects" built into their system, one 'safeguard' is not to seed a <br />tornado or funnel-bearing cloud, then waiting 30 minutes after the <br />funnel or tornado collapses before resuming seeding. Unfortunately, <br />