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<br />) <br /> <br />) <br /> <br />3:07 a.m. and 3:12 a.m. on July 26th. <br /> <br />Interestingly. the radar echoes of both the seeded areas <br />persis-tE!d fo1" rela-tively lengthy periods and our s/;leding appeared <br />to be somewhat successful although rainfall wasn't as widespread or <br />aa particularly heavy for very long periods as we would have likod. <br /> <br />JULY 27th---OPERATIONAL DAY #34: The day's operations began as <br />surface heating set off late aftenlOon thunderstorm>;; and rain- <br />showers in Lane. Finney and Ford counties. All aircraft were <br />scrambled, the first was called a-t 4:07 p.m., MDT. Seeding began <br />over southern Lane/eastern Finney County at 4:22 p.m. and for Ford <br />County at .5:21 p.m. New severe storm development continued <br />intensifying over northern and central Ford County. coincidentally <br />as storms in eastern Finney County were dissipating, and all four <br />aircraft shifted ",eeding efforts to Ford Ct)1wty. the storms that <br />built in FOl"d County were random; inflow areas at cloud base we!'e <br />almost chaotic---not always in the same parts of clouds nor long- <br />persl!\lting. Separately, there were ven"y in.tense storms observed <br />around Spearville and south of Dodge City. It appears these <br />inten'll'; storms together produced very strong outflows, or 8\1",t <br />fronts pushed (J1.1t strongly westward. It was a last act for the <br />storms as they dissipated into non-seve~"e ones and spreading out <br />over Ford County Clfterward. Bed;ween 7:18 and 7:28 p.m.. all <br />aircraft wer", sent back to their bases to refuel, resupply and <br />await a new onslaught coming In from Colorado in the form of a NNE- <br />SSW lino of storms. <br /> <br />As .the aircraft were enroute tD their" bases, th8 collapsing <br />storms in Pard County that pushed out thli! westerly-mnviu8 gust <br />fronts triggermd nUmerous. generally weak, new storms abov8 its <br />boundary. StlOn, however, there wer"! a f<:>w tl15tance5 of storms <br />prodUcIng brie.f hail t~at . was ob:3erl.'<!>r1 on radar. The stUrtll,S <br />occllrred in Haskell, Gray, Mearle, So;ward and Grant countie,:;;. <br /> <br />All aircraft got airborne a second tilun when th8Y were able, <br />from 8: 28 p, m. onward. As more .:;;torms beg.;m appear i ng nurth>,ard <br />along the westerly-moving outflow boundary over Kearny, Scott and <br />WIchita counties, hail-bearing ,storms became roore persIstent oV'~r <br />Haskell and Grant countie(S. Th€l problem was that the southeast8rly <br />'- Dlovtng ha:ll.-b..aring storm", were entering thli! extreme NW part of <br />the target area and aircraft wero correctly co~nitted to seed the <br />incoming storms as they converged into the westerly moving outflow <br />boundary as the convergence of the two sy.stems was expected to <br />prcd\lce intense storms. The .cloud top aircraft did make a pass <br />through otonn:;; over Has]~ell County en,oute to th8 11'11 part of the <br />target area, b\,.t fO\lnc1 nothing s8ed.~ble at the t.ilIlO of the paos. <br /> <br />Th", e:<p""ct8d cOllvergence of the systems first occurred a,Qund <br />Wallace County. Strong i nf lC'lwG w'll-e found in the conwH-gence !'egion <br />of the two 11n88 as 1 t mov"d acrO'38 Wichi ta and Scott count ie':;;, As <br />the advancing line of storms mergo'>d mo,-e with the line of cells <br />that mov8d w8stward, the advancing line overwhelmed it producing <br />ISven more s"torms, most were of l(1sser intens 1 ty (ra in) as it moved <br />