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<br />003400 <br /> <br />response, Governor Larrm directed the developnent of a Drought Response <br />Plan to specify tasks, organizational arrangements and operations of state <br />government under drought conditions (Lamm, 1981). <br /> <br />The State Weather Modification Advisory Committee (composed of five <br />scientists and five ranchers and farmers) met in January 1981 to discuss <br />the possible use of seeding if the drought persisted. The Committee felt <br />that Colorado stood the best chance of benefiting from winter cloud <br />seeding only if programs were well conceived, conducted on an ongoing <br />basis, and evaluated thoroughly. It did not favor hasty implementation of <br />an emergency seeding program because of doubts about the effectiveness of <br />seeding during dry periods and the inability to evaluate short-term <br />programs adequately. <br /> <br />The Department of Natural Resources presented this view at a joint <br />meeting of the state House and Senate Committees on Agriculture and <br />Natural Resources in late. January. Thus, although the drought lasted <br />until March on the plains and later in the mountains, the state did not <br />fund a seeding program for drought relief in 1981. Ski areas, water <br />users, local governments and businesses, however, did fund programs in the <br />southwestern San Juan and central mountain areas. <br /> <br />RESEAR:H APPROACH AND RESUL'lS <br /> <br />Data Availability and Limitations <br /> <br />Establishing a climatology of seedable storms requires not only <br />criteria for seedability but also a method to identify storms to which the <br />criteria could be applied. Storms can be identified from precipitation <br />data but these data are not often recorded in the remote areas or high <br />altitude regions where most of the snow falls (Klazura, 1982). Currently, <br />therefore, the only practicable way to identify storms is from weather <br />balloon (rawinsonde) soundings. These soundings provide vertical profiles <br />of temperature, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Although they can <br /> <br />7 <br />