WMOD00174 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MAY ..5..tfu,~P&Bil'rIONE-JL DAY #3: During the day intense surface heating, warming aloft, low level convergencs from Southeastern Colorado to Northwest Kansas and significant moisture advection from the south combined to produce severe thun~erstorms in southeastern Colorado near Hamil ton County which moved into Kansas. Between 4:35 p.m. and 4:46 p.m. all planes were scrambled. Seeding began on a multiple-celled thunderstorm complex inside Kansas along the Kansas-Colorado line at 5: 23 p.m. entering Hamilton County south of Coolidge. A second complex built over northwestern Hamilton County. Storm movements Were NE to ENE. Two cloud base aircraft seeded each complex with the cloud top aircraft assisting on the most southerly storm affecting the west-central part, including Syracuse (where some hail was later reported). The other complex of storms originating in NW Hamilton County was seeded as it moved NE into Greeley County, near Tribune, and further NE into NW Wichita County where seeding ended on it at 6:4l p.m. {one plane left earlier at 6:30 p.m. to assist on the storm near Syracuse---joining the other three at 7:08 p.m.). By 7: 18 p. In. all five aircraft were concentrating on the storm complex that moved through central and northern Hamil top County. Eventually, the complex weakened and dissipated leaving a separate, isola~ed cell on its east side, northeast of Kendall. As tha cell moved through northern Kearny county it decreased in updraft velocity and storm intensity; flig~ts were terminated in short order from 7:54 p.m. onward. The last aircraft on the storm was the cloud top plane; it ended seeding at 8:58 p.m. then patrolled for a few minutes longer before returning to its base in Dodge City. Curtis D. Smith y 0 /l - (pt~vt;..; t, #-1-~ Program Manager, Western Kansas Weather Modification