WMOD00176

• Project Name: Annual Report
• Title: Seeding Operations & Atmospheric Research, 2005 Annual Report
• Prepared By: Duncan Axisia
• Date: 12/31/2005
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

north-central Mexico along with a shear axis at
300mb suitably destabilized the atmosphere
yet again. Surface convergence in northern
Lea County and the approaching upper level
shortwave pushed a iine oj convective ceiis
into northwest Roosevelt County. On August
8th a strong divergent northwest flow at 300mb
and vorticity advection from north to south in
the central portion of the Texas panhandle
destabilized the upper level atmosphere. A
surface Low anchored on the southeast side of
the mountains in New Mexico and a southeast
wind flow across west Texas led to an area of
moderate surface convergence in eastern New
Mexico. This instability remained into August
9th with a primary low in the northern Texas
panhandle and a weak surface low in east-
central New Mexico with surface convergence
developing in northeast New Mexico amidst
southeast surface flow.

Quiet weather on August 10th & 11 th gave way
to more unsettled weather on the 12 h & 13t1l.
Primarily nocturnal rainfall on August 12th led to
a scouting mission late in the day but there
were no suitable clouds for seeding. On
August 13th a deep upper level 300mb trough
entering the central plains and strong vorticity
advection embedded in the trough axis from
north to south over central New Mexico at
500mb left the upper level atmosphere very
unstable from southern New Mexico into west
Texas. On Aug 14th a high pressure moved
into the Southern Ogallala region and was the
primary influence on the weather for the next
week until August 20th. On August 20th a
prominent shear axis at 300mb and weak
divergence at 500mb left the upper levels of
the atmosphere moderately unstable. A weak
low in the northern Texas panhandle extended
a weak surface boundary into the Southern
Ogallala target area. With dewpoints in the mid
60's and temperatures in the low 90's scattered
convective clouds began to develop in the
southern portions of Gaines County. Scouting

missions were flown on August 21st, August
22nd and August 23rd but no suitable convective
clouds were found. On August 24th, an upper
level closed low stretching from the Pacific
Northwest into the centrai piains ejected the
first of a series of upper level shortwaves
through eastern New Mexico and west Texas.
With southeast flow at 850mb, CAPE values
around 2000 J/kg, temperatures in the low 90's
and dewpoints in the mid 60's an area of
moderate surface convergence developed in
eastern New Mexico, SOAR flew its 14th
seeding operation of the month. On August
2th strong divergence on west side of trough
axis at 300mb and moderate vorticity advection
wrapped in northwest flow aloft over west
Texas destabilized the upper levels of the
atmosphere. CAPE values approaching 4000
J/kg in the Southern Ogallala target area
indicated extreme instability at the surface.
With temperatures in the low 90's and
dewpoints in the mid 60's moderate surface
convergence developed to the northeast of
Lubbock. Satellite imagery indicated a
boundary forming near the convergence that
extended to the extreme northeastern section
of the Southern Ogallala target area and
SOAR launched the 15th operation of the
month. The 29th was the last operation of the
month for August. With hurricane Katrina
making landfall on the Gulf shores a
considerable amount of moisture was being
advected into west Texas. A surface high
pressure to the north and a low to the
southwest were conducive to convection
developing along convergence zones in
_ northern Mexico and southeastern New
Mexico.

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