WMOD00259

• Applicant: Western Kansas Groundwater Management
• Project Name: Western Kansas Weather Modification Program
• Date: 1/1/1999
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

Barton was Rush County with 649. The top 5 most-damaged counties are listed on Fig 5. The 3-
counties: Ness, Barton and Rush, collectively sustained 86% of their yearly damage during the
one overnight storm period, May 16th-17th. Those storms began in Colorado, moved easterly
through Western and Central Kansas, and were seeded passing from the Colorado state line
across Greeley, Wichita, Scott and Lane counties. Our seeding effort was phenomenal; it was a
memorable storm sequence for all pilots. The damage from that storm period, outside the target
area, was talked and written about for many months around Kansas.

The counties having the most claims inside the WKWMP were Sheridan and Thomas with
518 and 361 claims, respectively. Both counties were located in the northern division of the
WKWMP and were 7th and 10th highest in Kansas for claims. Interestingly, two of the six
counties with only small portions of their county inside the northern target area also ended up
with high numbers of claims: Graham had 674 claims and Decatur had 583---5th and 7th highest
in the state. Within the southern division group of counties, Scott and Finney counties had the
most claims at 291 and 261, respectively. On the whole, within Kansas, it is evident that more
severe storms must have affected the western half of the state since more hail claims were
submitted from counties within the western half of the state than from the eastern half. It was as if
a clear dividing line were drawn down the middle of the state.

Table 3, on page 32, shows the claims history for the southern WKWMP target area since
the beginning in 1975. The 2,167 claims in the southern target area in 1999 was less than 1%
below the previous 2.4-year average of 2, 183 claims and rests at 10th place from the top. Not as
good as was hoped for at the start of the season, but under the mitigating circumstances which
prevented our seeding major storms, perhaps it could've even been worse. Table 3 also shows
the number of hail claims this year were just 109 more than were submitted last year, but only 2
less than two years ago in 1997---the first year with 9 aircraft assigned to the WKWMP. The
claims numbers for 1997, 1998 and 1999 are all, incredibly, within one-half percent of each other!

Table 4, also on page 32, provides the montWy breakdown of hail claims in all WKWMP
target area counties. Interestingly, total WKWMP damage in June came to 49% of our total
seasonal damage. If one includes the damages from June storms occurring the same nights---May
31st and July 1st---as parts of the same events, then 67.1%, or more than 2i3rds of all 1999
claims were recorded.

On page 33, Tables 5 and 6 show montWy claims numbers for each target area, whereas,
Table 7, on page 34 presents a comprehensive list showing the complete daily county hail-claim
breakdown for each hail-day reported. within the WKWMP in 1999. For those counties with only
a portion inside the WKWMP target area, only that area of the county inside the target area is
listed. Table 7 shows Sheridan County being hit with hail 26 days, more than twice the 12 days it
was hit in 1998; next was Thomas County with 20 days. Little wonder those two counties were
highest in damage claims, respectively, both in the northern target area and in all the WKWMP.
In the southern target area the counties hit most were Kearny and Gray, respectively, with 19
days and 18 days; however, Scott and Finney counties submitted the most claims, respectively.

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