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University Communications Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado 80523 303-491 -6432 RELEASE AT WILL CLOUD SEEDING 23(:'2. : t ,';:,! /~~ ,~",~} S'~ ' '., '> J .,~, ." " \,' ~ l:i {~' ' . ';~', '\.; \,"~.:8. ,- ..1' ~,~ l' t^. l"tO '." . ......... '.1'-- .' if \' ,~_, , . , ..3 <" ': ',.' FORT COLLINS, March 3l--Cloud seeding. "It works." "It doesn't work." "It's risky." "It's not risky." "It can provide much needed moisture--10 to 20 per cent over what would fall naturally." "Nobody knows for certain what it does." Cloud seeding is a technology shrouded in misunderstanding and characterized by conflicting opinions. But atmospheric researchers at Colorado State University are convinced that it works--under certain conditions. Their convictions are based on 17 years of field experiments with winter mountain clouds. The total thrust of their program during the first 10 or 11 years was to determine what could be done--or whether there was any potential--for effective cloud seeding in the mountains. "We felt that was accomplished in a positive way as long as four or five years ago," said Lelds O. Grant, professor of, atmospheric science and technical adviser to the state in its emergency weather modification program. Grant is emphatic when asked if weather modification works--again, under certain conditions. "If we're talking in terms of clearing cold fogs from airports or about augmenting precipitation in the mountains, the answer is clearly yes," he said. "On the other hand, if we're talking about augmenting precipitation from summer clouds or about modifying hurricanes or suppressing hail, the answer at this time is no." -more-