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<br />003494 <br /> <br />Even though basin-to-basin comparisons should not be made, it may be <br />instructive to examine the magnitude of increases in water content <br />elCpeCted from seeding at the various courses used in this study. These <br />estimates are valid only at the actual site of each course. <br /> <br />Estimates of potential increases in water content vary considerably <br />from winter to winter and from course to course. At Rabbit Ears Pass, for <br />example, estimates range from. 76 to 3.16 inches; at Lynx Pass in the same <br />basin, much lower estimates range from. 31 to 1.09 inches. <br /> <br />Estimates are highest (over four inches) at several courses in the San <br />Juan Range that are located at high elevations along the first major <br />massif encountered by moist Pacific air entering the continent from the <br />southwest. Many storms from the southwest meet the criteria for <br />seedability because they have relatively warm 500 mb temperatures. <br /> <br />Lower estimates for courses in other areas of the state result from <br />colder 500 mb temperatures in most storms that impact them and lower <br />average snowfall. <br /> <br />SllMMARY AND CON:WSIONS <br /> <br />This study compares seeding opportunity in Colorado during moderately <br />dry, normal and wet winters. Data with the areal coverage, spatial <br />resolution and length of record necessary to conduct a comprehensive study <br />of seeding opportunity do not exist. Conclusions of this study, <br />therefore, are tentative and subject to revisions as additional data <br />become available. <br /> <br />Storms are identified each winter from 1961-62 through 1973-74 by <br />applying relative humidity criteria to interpolated rawinsonde data. Use <br /> <br />35 <br />