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<br />;~~j <br />.-....;, <br /> <br />time of year in High Plains summers. All times listed are CDT. <br /> <br />JULY 13th - OPERATIONAL DAY *42: By late afternoon, a large area of <br />southeasterly moving storms had developed in northeast Colorado and <br />a separate 'storm was developing in northwestern Ford County. All <br />cloud base planes were scrambled at 7:23 p.m" however, the Ford <br />storm collapsed, The plane flying to Ford was diverted to Wallace <br />County. One cloud base plane had to land to effect a quick repair <br />on its generator, It was re-launched at 8:18 p.m. <br /> <br />Seeding for hail began in northwest Wallace County at 8:05 <br />p,m.; two others assisted at 8:11 p.m., a fourth at 8:20 p.m. The <br />cloud top plane was scrambled at 8:25 p,m. but had another ,radar <br />failure after becoming airborne, grounding it for the operation. At <br />8:44 p.m. radar showed a "bow-echo" stretching across southwest <br />Wallace County, the result of an earlier gust front seen to be <br />moving south,east. Bow-echoes are, beet. knowr.fol.:,' producing strong, <br />~amaging winds along its path and, when hail is present, both crop <br />and property damage is magnified considerably. <br /> <br />, By 8:54 p.m. the last cloud base plane began seeding along the <br />same line of storms in wallace County as the other aircraft. More <br />new severe storms continued building above the gust front which, by <br />9:35 p.m., lay across Gove, Logan, Wichita and Greeley counties and <br />extended further west into Kiowa County (CO). Storms were most <br />severe along the line in Greeley and Wichita counties and seeding <br />concentrated there as it pushed further southeast. By 10:11 p.m. <br />the line lay across Lane, Scott, wichi ta, Kearny and Hamil ton <br />counties with the line appearing to be forming another wel1- <br />developed bow-echo whiCh stretched across northeast, central and <br />northwest Kearny County. <br /> <br />Planes began running low on seeding agent from 10: 49 p.m. <br />onward and the first was sent in to resupply at 10:51 p.m.; three <br />more at 11:08 p.m. leaving one plane seeding---and it had only one <br />generator then working, By 11:08 p.m. a much larger bow echo lay on <br />a line from eastern Finney County southwest into southwest Finney <br />to the northwest edge of Haskell County, then west across northern <br />Grant/southern Kearny" and back northwest into eastern Hamilton <br />County. Later; 90 mph winds, were reported in eastern Finney; 75 mph <br />estimated in Haskell county and 75 mph in Dodge City. <br /> <br />Planes were up a second time at 11:40, 11:51, 11:55 and <br />midnight, Two resupplied planes began seeding at 12:18 a.m. in <br />Kearny County and worked southeast into Grant. The Grant county <br />part of the line being seeded later moved out of the target area <br />and the flights of the two seeding planes were terminated. <br /> <br />Until assistance came, the lone seeding plane with one <br />generator working, described above, worked on the line across parts <br />of Kearny, Finney, Grant and Haskell counties. After two planes got <br />resupplied they were able to being helping in Gray and Ford <br />counties beginning at 11:55 p.m. and midnight, respectively, and <br />continued working in that same area until 12:22 a.m. The lone plane <br />