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<br />Ol?E:RATIONS (A.U tiJlt<:s are CDT):
<br />
<br />HAY 31st O?ERhTIONhL DAV #12: A cold f~nt lay ~lmost stagnant ac~S$
<br />the ta~get area thi$ date and provided the locatlcn preferred for inltlal
<br />storm grovth, All aircraft were scrambled at 3:15 p,n, when oloud$ began
<br />building rapidl y around a southwestern block of coun ties in the target
<br />area--HamiltOI'l, Kearny, Finney. Grant and Stanton, Initially, cloud
<br />bases were high and ragged: inflows were hard to find. No signif ica.nt
<br />radar echoes were observed at the Hille of launch, Seeding began near
<br />Holcomb at 3:57 p,a, Al$ost Simultaneously. seeding began in southwest
<br />Kearny/no:t"thwest Grant with three planes; the cloud top beg;,m seeding in
<br />northwestern Finney at 4:25 p,a, as it headed southwest down the line of
<br />storms toward Grant County,
<br />
<br />Upd.raf tIS decreased in the Kearnv/Grant :sto:t'lI\ and, alr::r,:;,f t vcre,
<br />.oved to an area of increasingly intense storm north of Oeerfield where
<br />radar soon indioated hail in the storm, New severe stor~ Srowth built to
<br />the northwest and west past Lakin end near Kendall, Hail Vas indicated
<br />on radar at dif fel'ant tillles in southwest and northeast 1(earny and
<br />northwest Finney counties between 4:39 and 5:00 p,_. There was a lull in
<br />stork aotivitv and ~ne aircraft was sent in for resupply. Subsequently.
<br />~ther new cell~ developed into a line in southeast Hamilton and northeast
<br />Stanton Counties and in southwestern Lane County, When aircraft arrived
<br />in southwest une County there were no cloud updrllf ts. At this tillle
<br />heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were occur~ing over radar causing severe
<br />attenuation-blocking radar view of other storms, Another plane was ~nt
<br />in for resupply at 6:15 p.~. At 6:20 P,ll\, vigorous new storm develop.ant
<br />was found near Syraouse and seeding was initiated and two airoraft were
<br />sent to assist, The cloud top plane was low on fuel about this tiAet ~nd
<br />he.d to ~turn to base, A second plane aSlSisted around the Syraouse storm
<br />at 6: 41 p ,l/I, Enroute to the Syraouse storm. one plane encountered
<br />signifioantly better updrafts on' a cloud about 12 ailes south of Lakin
<br />and began seeding there at 6:48 p,., A second plane was diverteld f:t'01It.
<br />Ha.il ton County to the !(earny County starlll as updraf ts there weakeneld:
<br />the third base plane lIIoved frol/l Hamilton County to Kearny County at 7:10
<br />1',.. The Kearny storllt.s continued groll'ing to the south, Cloud hose
<br />seeding oontinuf:ld southward. into Grant County until so Iluoh new cloud
<br />growth developed that seeding in the target area could not be performed,
<br />rwo planes ran out of seeding agent. one at 7:50 p,lII"tbe second at 8:02
<br />p,m,---just as seeding was ending; the third plane wes sent to check out
<br />an E-T1 line of wee.ker storms along the frontal boundary 1e.yillS o.cross
<br />northern Hamiltion and 1(earny counties, Heavy rainfall was continuing to
<br />block radar viewing at Lakin" Nothing was found to seed On this wea~r
<br />line of cells,
<br />
<br />A nev stOl'lI\ began intensifying in northwest Greeley and !Southwest
<br />Vallaoe oounties at 10: 03 p, 11\, and all cloud base planes were =ralllbled.
<br />Hove~er. the large sto~m ~oved northeast out of the target area and had
<br />no subse~uent new srowth baok in the target area, All planes were
<br />recalled, Total flight time this day totaled 25:5 hours,
<br />
<br />JUNE l~t, OPERATIONAl DAY 113: At 12:55 p,m, an isolated stor~ had begun
<br />rapid growth al~t overhead Syracuse to which three cloud base planes
<br />vere scrambled, The fourth base plane was scrambled at 1: 20 p, Ill. 110
<br />indications of hail was evident on radar at the tille of launching.
<br />Seeding began at 1:14 P,II,; the other two planes began assisting at 1:29
<br />and 1:33 p.lR" respectively, A NE-S1iJ line of cells soon bu.ilt across
<br />:IIalllilton and. Kearnit' counties and. a::; updrafts lettsened, SOlRe rain
<br />stilllulation continued along p=ts of the line unt,il st:t'Onget.r updrafts
<br />could be located in new storms growing within the line, Before returning
<br />to assist seeding the line of storms with the others. one plane was _nt
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