WMOD00043

• Contract/Permit #: Denied
• Applicant: Western Kansas Groundwater
• Project Name: Kansas Weather Modification
• Title: Denied
• Date: 1/1/1996
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Proof of Public Notice

OPERATIONS: This was another big week for seeding operations with
just a short break around mid-week. It is during this period that
cloud seeding ope~ations are at a critical stage. Climatologically,
the two most crop-damaging weeks of the year occur in the 3rd and
4th weeks of June---that being the past week and this current week.

JUNE 15th/16th - OPERATIONAL DAYS #24 & #25: With a north-south
oriented surface trough in eastern Colorado and a pool of cold air
aloft moving from southwest to northeast across eastern Colorado
and Western Kansas, storms began firing up in mid-afternoon. Three
planes 'we;e scrambled at 3:45 p.m. initially to seed for rainfall
increase, in three separate areas: western Gree-ley County at 4:14
p,m., eastern Finney at 4:20 p.m. and in southwestI:ane at 4:~4
p.m. Storms were weak and moving northeasterly. Seed~ngended 1n
all three areas between 4:.29ancl 4:58 p.m, Before terminating at
5:23p.m., rainfallstimulatiori"wasdone just southofl'>ray County,
for effect in Gray from 5:02 and 5:15 p.m.

'At 6:20 p.m. an explosive severe storm developed in extreme
southern Haskell County. Initially, four cloud base planes and the
cloud top plane were scrambled, the last was scrambled at 6:35 p.m.
Seeding began at 6:52 p.m. with ~ others joining at 6:57 p.m. and
two others at 7:06 and 7:18 p.m" respectively,The cloud top plane
began at 7:24 p,m. Shortly after seeding was initiated, the new
storms growing on the south and southwest side of the original
storm remained almost stationary creating two distinct severe
storms; both were seeded. With time, a separate new storm, which
had formed in Finney County, drifted into southeast Scott/southwest
Lane counties. Tl1e northernmost "parent" storm, originally in
Haske~~ County, detached from its "daughter" storm, eventually
merging into the Scott/Lane storm cluster. One plane was diverted
to the Scott storm at 7:29 p.m. and was seeding in Scott County at
7:35 p.m. A se~ond plane was in Scott County seeding at 7:45 p.m,
leaving four planes to seed the storm which originally developed in
Haskell County but which had moved northeasterly into western Gray
County and from there more easterly towardCimarron. The Scott/Lane
storm weakened as it moved into central Lane and one plane was
diverted to the Gray storm at 8,07 p.m. By a'34 p.m. pilots were
reporting weak updrafts on the storm near Cimarron and the
remaining cloUd base ,planes were moved to a new north-south
oriented line of storm development in wichita and Greeley counties
leaving only the cloud top plane to seed the Gray storm. The cloud
top plane reported the Gray storm dissipated by 8:45 p.m. and
returned to Dodge City for fuel and dry ice.

While seeding was going on in Gray and Lane counties, a N-S
boundary of some kind had moved westward to meet a N-S oriented
line of relatively weak storms which had moved from Colorado into
western portions of Greeley, Hamilton and Stanton counties. When
the two met---the line of weaker storms and the boundary---the new
merged line erupted.

Seeding began along the line in northwest Wichita County at
8'40 p.m. and 9:06 p.m., southeast Greeley County at 8:58 p.m.,