A Program for the Seeding of Convective Clouds to Mitigate Urban Hail Damage in the Province of Alberta, Canada

For the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society Calgary, Alberta Canada

By Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North Fargo, North Dakota USA 58102 www.weathermodification.com

December 2009

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report summarizes the activities during the 2009 field operations of the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. This was the fourteenth year of operations, conducted by Weather Modification, Inc. (WMI) of Fargo, North Dakota, under contract with the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society (ASWMS) of Calgary, Alberta. The 2009 field season was the fourth year of the third 5-year contract cycle for this ongoing program that began in its present form in 1996. The program continues to be funded entirely by private insurance entities in Alberta, with the sole intent the mitigation of the damage to urban property caused by hail. The cloud-seeding project was designated an on-going program in 2001 because the insurance losses due to hail had been approximately 50% less than expected (based on historical experience) during the first five-year contract period 1996-2000. Calgary and Red Deer have seen >30% increases in population in the last 10 years, and the property values have more than doubled during this time. Calgarys population exceeded 1 million several years ago. A similar hail storm that caused $400 million damage in Calgary in 1991 would almost certainly cause more than $1 billion damage today. Several billion-dollar hail storms have occurred in the USA in the last 5 years. The project design has remained essentially the same throughout the period, except that a fourth seeding aircraft was added to the project beginning in the summer of 2008, to improve seeding coverage on days st having numerous thunderstorms occurring simultaneously. The program was operational from June 1 th through September 15 , 2009. Only those storms that were believed to pose a hail threat to an urban area, as identified by the projects weather radar situated at the Olds-Didsbury Airport, were actually seeded. The project target area covers the region from High River in the south to Lacombe in the north, with priority given to the two largest cities therein: Calgary and Red Deer. The 2009 field operations overall ran quite smoothly. The flight crews were all very familiar with hail suppression operations, and many had previous Alberta Project experience. There was a notable change in the WMI project leadership this season, however. Since the program inception in 1996, WMI operations had been led by Red Deer native Dr. Terry Krauss. In April 2009, Dr. Krauss role was shifted to other responsibilities within Weather Modifications operations. Project leadership then shifted to WMI Director of Meteorology, Bruce Boe, and WMI Vice President of Operations, Hans Ahlness. Both Ahlness and Boe have themselves long histories with weather modification and hail suppression operations. Ahlness has spent much of his 30+-year career in weather modification working on an operational hail suppression program in the State of North Dakota. Boe began working in weather modification research in 1974, became a field meteorologist for the North Dakota program in 1982, and then the Director of that program in 1988, where he continued to serve for 13 seasons. The role of WMI Vice President James Sweeney as primary liaison to the ASWMS remained unchanged, uninterrupted since the programs inception in 1996. Ahlness and Boe have also been familiar with the Alberta operation throughout that time. Thus, the change in leadership resulted in no loss of experience or program knowledge. For his part, Dr. Krauss assisted in the start-up of the 2009 project, and was himself involved in several of the tours provided to employees of some of the project-sponsoring insurance companies. The 2009 project operational meteorological staff remained a strong, talented cadre. Field operations were led by Jason Goehring, who conducted Alberta operations for his fifth season. He was ably assisted by Dr. Viktor Makitov, who spent his fourth summer in Alberta on the project. The third meteorologist was new to the project, but not to hail suppression. Matthew Becker had three seasons experience working on the North Dakota hail suppression program as a field meteorologist, operating radar and directing seeding aircraft, before coming to Alberta.

During the evening of August 2 a late-night storm was not detected in a timely manner. When detected, the storm was inside the project buffer zone. Though an aircraft was launched as soon as the threat was recognized, the storm complex proceeded to track to the south-southeast at about 80 km per hour on a diagonal path across the heart of the target area, from Rocky Mountain House all the way to south of Strathmore. This was an unusual storm in its time of day and its very fast movement. Storms typically develop much earlier in the day, and propagate at perhaps half that speed. Though this damaging storm was seeded, eventually by two aircraft, the effort was less than ideal. Much of the off season preparation for the 2010 project has been focused on how to prevent such delays from being repeated. Re-allocation of project meteorologist duty time will ensure that the radar is monitored at all times. Late-night convection occurs only infrequently in Alberta but the possibility can never be dismissed. Better ways to improve real-time monitoring of all Environment Canada warnings and severe weather statements are being developed and implemented. WMI is again exploring the feasibilty of establishing of a radar-based automated alert system that would activate whenever a convective cell is identified by the TITAN radar software. This was previously explored but proved problematic because late-night ground returns, especially from the Rocky Mountains, often become strong enough to be identified as cells. However, there may now be a better way to do this and it is being re-addressed. Protocols that establish when HAILSTOP aircraft are moved from telephone standby to airport standby, and when aircraft are launched even for patrol flights have been revised to ensure a heighten readiness and further reduce response times. The times of all aircraft launch requests made by the project meteorologists to flight crews will henceforth be included in the radar operators log. The 2009 season was far less active than the norm for Alberta. Hail was reported within the project area nd on 23 days this past summer. Larger than golf ball size hail fell on August 2 . Golf ball size hail was th st th th reported on August 11 and again on August 21 . Walnut size hail was reported on July 12 , July 19 , th and on August 9 . Data from crop insurance claims provided by Alberta Agricultural Financial Services Corporation in Lacombe indicates that crop damage in 2009 was approximately slightly below average, with a Loss-to-Risk ratio of 0.38 province-wide. In general, the weather in the project area this summer was cool and dry in June, and then somewhat warmer and more normal during July and August. Thunderstorms were observed on 64 days during the project period, compared to 75 days in 2008. During the 2009 project season there were 81 aircraft flights totaling 109.34 flight hours on 41 days with operations. A total of 30 storms were seeded during 23 seeding flights (57.10 hours) on 18 days on which seeding took place. There were 15 patrol flights (20.50 hours), 20 test flights (17.42 hours), and 23 public relations flights, when aircraft were flown to/from the Operations Centre for tours of the facility by insurance company representatives (14.32 hours). The amount of silver-iodide nucleating agent dispensed during the 2009 field season totaled 48.443 kg. This was dispensed in the form of 451 ejectable (cloud-top) flares (9.02 kg seeding agent), 237 burn-inplace flares (35.55 kg seeding agent), and 1,355 minutes of AgI-seeding solution burn (3.873 kg seeding agent). Four specially equipped cloud seeding aircraft were dedicated to the project. One Piper Cheyenne II and a Cessna 340A were based in Calgary, and a Beech King Air C90 and a Cessna 340A were based in Red Deer. The procedures used in 2009 remained the same as for the previous years. The Calgary office and aircraft were stationed at the former Morgan Air hangar at the Calgary International Airport. A WMI Red Deer office was set up in the AvTech hangar at the Red Deer Regional Airport. The aircraft and crews provided a 24-hour service, seven days a week, throughout the project period. Eight full-time pilots and three meteorologists were assigned to the project this year. Overall, the personnel, aircraft, and radar performed exceptionally well and there were no interruptions in the service. A duty meteorologist on one night was late in recognizing a threatening storm, and this has resulted in considerable post-analysis so that any recurrences will be avoided in the future. Internet was once again installed at the Calgary and Red Deer offices for the pilots so that they could closely monitor the storm evolution and storm motion using the radar images on the web.

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Several public relations activities occurred this year. A film crew from Veriscope Pictures, representing National Geographic, visited the program from 9-11 July. HAILSTOP 1 flew from Calgary to Airdrie for the Airdrie Air Show on 22 July. This proved to be very good for public relations as many spectators were interested in the airplane and the hail suppression project. Lead project pilot Bob Gorman was th interviewed by CTV on August 5 . On 6 August, CHCA News from Red Deer conducted a phone interview of Chief Meteorologist Jason Goehring regarding the recent storm activity. All of the media coverage was positive. All of the projects radar data, meteorological data, and reports have been recorded onto a portable hard drive as a permanent archive for the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society. These data include the daily reports, radar maps, aircraft flight tracks, as well as meteorological charts for each day. These data can be made available for outside research purposes through a special request to the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society. A formal statistical evaluation of the hail suppression program is still not possible without acquiring more comprehensive, detailed, high resolution property insurance claim data. Preliminary assessments from unofficial reports within the insurance industry indicate that the program has been a financial success but this has not been verified.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... 6 LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 10 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND............................................................................................ 11 1.1 The 2009 Field Program ............................................................................................................ 12 1.2 Project Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 14 Priorities ............................................................................................................................................ 15 2. 3. PROJECT PERSONNEL ................................................................................................................... 16 HAIL AND HAIL SUPPRESSION CONCEPTS ................................................................................. 20 3.1 3.2 3.3 4. 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 5. The Formation of Hail ................................................................................................................ 20 Hail Suppression........................................................................................................................ 21 Precipitation Efficiency............................................................................................................... 22 OPERATIONS PLAN ..................................................................................................................... 24 Identification of Hail Producing Storms (Opportunity Recognition) ............................................ 24 Onset of Seeding ....................................................................................................................... 24 Cloud Seeding Methodology ...................................................................................................... 24 Cessation of Seeding................................................................................................................. 27 Seeding Rates ........................................................................................................................... 27

SEEDING AGENTS............................................................................................................................ 29 5.1 Flare Effectiveness .................................................................................................................... 31

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PROGRAM ELEMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE ......................................................................... 34 6.1 Ground School ........................................................................................................................... 34 6.2 Public Relations ......................................................................................................................... 35 6.3 Flight Operations........................................................................................................................ 37 6.4 Cloud Seeding Aircraft ............................................................................................................... 38 Piper Cheyenne II ............................................................................................................................. 38 Beech King-Air C90 .......................................................................................................................... 39 C340A Aircraft ................................................................................................................................... 40 6.5 Project Operations Centre ......................................................................................................... 40 6.6 Radar Specifications .................................................................................................................. 43 Data Acquisition ............................................................................................................................... 43 Radar Calibrations ............................................................................................................................ 43 Aircraft Tracking ............................................................................................................................... 45

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SUMMARY OF SEEDING OPERATIONS ......................................................................................... 47 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Flights ........................................................................................................................................ 47 Seeding Amounts....................................................................................................................... 48 Comparison of 2009 with Previous Seasons ............................................................................. 48 Storm Tracks ............................................................................................................................. 53

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WEATHER FORECASTING .............................................................................................................. 54

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8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 9. 10. 11. 12.

The Convective Day Category (CDC) ........................................................................................ 54 Coordinated Universal Time ...................................................................................................... 55 Daily Briefings ............................................................................................................................ 55 Meteorological Statistics ............................................................................................................ 55 Forecasting Performance .......................................................................................................... 57 The Hailcast Model .................................................................................................................... 60

CLIMATE PERSPECTIVES ............................................................................................................... 61 ALBERTA CROP HAIL INSURANCE RESULTS ......................................................................... 65 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................. 67 REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READING ...................................................................... 69

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................. 73 A. B. C. D. ORGANIZATION CHART............................................................................................................... 74 DAILY WEATHER AND ACTIVITIES SUMMARY TABLE 2009..................................................... 75 AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS / FLIGHT SUMMARY TABLE 2009 ................................................... 107 FORMS ........................................................................................................................................ 109 Daily Forecast Sheet ...................................................................................................................... 110 WMI Radar Observer Log ............................................................................................................... 111 WMI Seeding Aircraft Flight Log ................................................................................................... 112 E. SPECIFICATIONS FOR PIPER CHEYENNE II AIRCRAFT......................................................... 113 F. SPECIFICATIONS FOR BEECHCRAFT KING AIR C90 AIRCRAFT........................................... 114 G. SPECIFICATIONS FOR CESSNA C-340 AIRCRAFT.................................................................. 115 H. GROUND SCHOOL AGENDA ..................................................................................................... 116 I. WMI AIRBORNE GENERATOR SEEDING SOLUTION .............................................................. 117 J. DAILY METEOROLOGICAL FORECAST STATISTICS 2009 .................................................... 118 K. PROJECT PERSONNEL AND TELEPHONE LIST...................................................................... 121

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: The average number of hail days per year, based on the 19551995 climate data from Environment Canada and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Graphic courtesy of the National Geographic Society (1999). .................................................................... 11 Figure 2: Map of southern Alberta showing the project target area (Figure courtesy J. Renick). .............. 14 Figure 3 Project support was provided by WMI Senior Vice President Jim Sweeney (left) and Erin Fischer (right). .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 4: Support for aviation services was provided and coordinated by Mr. Hans Ahlness, Vice President-Operations and project co-manager (left) and Mr. Jody Fischer, Chief Pilot (right). .................. 16 Figure 5: The 2009 project meteorologists, in the operations centre at the Olds-Didsbury Airport. Back: Bruce Boe, Project Co-manager (left), and Jason Goehring, Lead Meteorologist. Front: Matt Becker (left) and Dr. Viktor Makitov. (WMI photograph by Terry Krauss.) ..................................................................... 17 Figure 6: Dr. Terry Krauss and 2009 Lead Meteorologist Jason Goehring contemplate meteorological data in the operations center in early June, 2009. (WMI photograph by Bruce Boe.)................................. 17 Figure 7: Calgary-based Pilots-in-Command (Captains), from left to right: Bob Gorman (lead project pilot, HAILSTOP 1, Cheyenne II N234K), Jeff Allen (HAILSTOP 2, Cessna 340A N457DM), and Ben Hiebert (HAILSTOP 1 and 2). .................................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 8: Red Deer-based Pilots-in-Command (Captains), from left to right: Joel Zimmer (HAILSTOP 4, Cessna 340A 123KK), Marcus Stevenson (HAILSTOP 3, King Air C90 N911FG), and Zac Glass (HAILSTOP 3 and 4). .................................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 9: Project Copilots (First Officers), from left to right: Jason Wannamaker (Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 and 2), Katie Burgess (Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 and 2), Ryan Young (Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 and 2), and Michael Tonietto (Red Deer, HAILSTOP 3 and 4). ..................................................................................... 19 Figure 10: Critical on-site project support for electronics and radar services was provided by Barry Robinson (left), of Penhold. Aviation maintenance support was provided in Calgary by Gary Hillman (right). .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 11: The conceptual model of hailstone formation and hail mitigation processes for Alberta (adapted from WMO, 1995). This schematic shows generalized cloud seeding flight paths at feeder-cloud tops and below cloud-base, typically employed for mature thunderstorms................................................. 22 Figure 12: Precipitation efficiency for High Plains convective storms. Known supercell hailstorms are labeled S. Storms that produced rain only are labeled R. (Figure from Browning 1977, copyright American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA). ......................................................................................... 23 Figure 13: When seeding nocturnal thunderstorms, lightning is a friend. It illuminates, if only sporadically and all too briefly, many cloud details that otherwise would go unseen. The single lightning flash here has revealed the rain-free cloud base (near which base seeding aircraft would operate), smaller, developing turrets that might be seedable (if cold enough), larger, maturing cloud cells that are no doubt too cold and ice-laden (and close to being detectable by radar), and the mature thunderstorm (behind) that has produced the lightning. (WMI photograph/graphic by Bruce Boe.) ............................................................ 26 Figure 14: A 150 gram burn-in-place (BIP) pyrotechnic burns in a ground demonstration at the OldsDidsbury Airport during the summer of 2009. When burned in flight such flares are carried in a horizontal position in racks affixed to the trailing edges of the wings. (WMI photograph courtesy of Marcus Stevenson.) ................................................................................................................................................. 29 Figure 15: A sixteen-position burn-in-place (BIP) flare rack is shown on HAILSTOP 1. These BIP flares are typically burned consecutively, one at a time, while in updrafts below developing cloud towers. Each flare burns for about 4 minutes. (WMI photograph.) .................................................................................. 29

Figure 16: Wing-tip seeding generators burn a very effective silver-iodide seeding solution. Used almost exclusively while flying in updrafts below cloud base, these generators produce fast-acting ice nuclei that function by the condensation-freezing nucleation mechanism, the same as those produced by the pyrotechnics. However, these generators burn the solution at a slower rate than either of the flare types, and so can be used to deliver nuclei more slowly, but for hours at a time, for a more limited dosage, when needed, (WMI photograph.) ....................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 17: Captain Joel Zimmer attaches the third of three ejectable flare racks to the fuselage belly of the King Air C90 seeding aircraft, HAILSTOP 3. Each rack contains 102 20-gram ejectable pyrotechnics for use in cloud-top seeding operations. (WMI photograph.) ..................................................................... 30 Figure 18: Yield of ice crystals (corrected) per gram of pyrotechnic versus cloud supercooling temperature (T<0C). Open diamond symbols are for experiments with cloud LWC (liquid water content) -3 -3 of 1.5 g m , while the filled symbols are for experiments with LWC equal to 0.5 g m . (Figure from DeMott 1999.).............................................................................................................................................. 31 Figure 19: Times for 63% (diamond symbols) and 90% (square symbols) ice formation versus supercooling (T<0C) for the ICE pyrotechnic aerosols. Open and filled symbols are for cloud LWC (liquid -3 water content) of 1.5 and 0.5 g m , respectively. (DeMott 1999.) ............................................................. 32 Figure 20: A schematic of the operational elements of the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. .................. 34 Figure 21: Ms. Erin Fischer explains the nuances of the SharePoint information management software to project personnel during Day 2 of the 2009 pre-project ground school, in Calgary. The software allows document sharing and access for data, inventories, administration, photographs, and reporting. (WMI photograph by Bruce Boe.) ......................................................................................................................... 35 Figure 22: Captain Zac Glass explains the functionality of ejectable pyrotechnics (on HAILSTOP 3) to a group from AXA Pacific Insurance that visited the Operations Centre at the Olds-Didsbury Airport on 19 August 2009. (WMI Photograph by Marcus Stevenson.) ........................................................................... 36 Figure 23: Schematic figure showing aircraft cloud seeding block altitudes required for Air Traffic Control (ATC). Transponder codes assigned for the duration of the project by NAV CANADA to HAILSTOP aircraft (1-4) were 4401, 4402, 4403, and 4404, respectively. (WMI graphic.) .......................................... 38 Figure 24: Calgary-based Piper Cheyenne II aircraft (N234K) designated as HAILSTOP 1, with Captain Bob Gorman during a visit to the operations center at the Olds-Didsbury Airport. ..................................... 39 Figure 25: Beech King-Air C90 aircraft (N911FG) designated as HAILSTOP 3 parked at the OldsDidsbury Airport ramp, parked for static display prior to an operations centre and aircraft tour. ................ 39 Figure 26: HAILSTOP 2, Cessna 340A N457DM, is shown parked on the ramp in Calgary. The solutionburning ice nucleus generator affixed to the near wing-tip is clearly visible. (WMI Photograph by Terry Krauss.) ....................................................................................................................................................... 40 Figure 27: C340A aircraft (N123KK) designated as HAILSTOP 4 is captured here as it overflew the OldsDidsbury Airport after a tour had been given for visiting insurance company employees........................... 40 Figure 28: The WMI project Operations Centre is located at the Olds-Didsbury Airport, about 70 km (44 miles) north of the Calgary Airport. Pictured here is a tour group from Cooperators Insurance, after a visit to the site on 25 June 2009. The small structure beneath the tower houses the radar transmitter and receiver. (WMI photograph by Terry Krauss.) ............................................................................................ 41 Figure 29: Meteorologst Matthew Becker in the communications and control room at the Olds-Didsbury project operations centre. From left to right, the computer monitors display: (1) CIDD radar and satellite loops, (2 and 3) TITAN radar imagery and (4) Internet access to real-time meteorological information. Further to the right (not seen) is the AirLink system which acquires, ingests, and processes aircraft position information for display on TITAN and eventual archival. (WMI photograph by Bruce Boe.)......... 41

Figure 30: The TITAN dual-monitor display showing the various radar pictures and satellite photo as available to the operations meteorologist on 29 July 2006. The image on the upper right is sent posted on the Internet every five minutes. ................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 31: An example of the WMI-NCAR CIDD display, which shows radar reflectivity data and topography. A vertical storm cross-section which shows a clear-air outflow boundary (thunderstorm downdraft) are included to the right............................................................................................................. 42 Figure 32: Radar calibration of RDAS digital counts to equivalent radar reflectivity power (dBZ) for the WMI radar at Olds-Didsbury during the 2009 field season. The difference between the 2008 calibrations is less than 1 dB, and not significant. .......................................................................................................... 45 Figure 33: Aircraft flight tracks for all four seeding aircraft and real-time seeding information available from the AirLink telemetry system are shown for the flights of 4 July 2009. In this AirLink plot, HAILSTOP 1 is green, HAILTOP 2 is white, HAILSTOP 3 is cyan (blue), and HAILSTOP 4 is yellow. (WMI graphic.) .................................................................................................................................................................... 46 Figure 34: The frequency of occurrence and cumulative distributions of aircraft take-off and landing times for all flights as a function of time (Mountain Daylight) during 2009............................................................ 47 Figure 35: Amount of seeding material dispensed per operational day in 2009. ....................................... 48 Figure 36: The number of days on which seeding was conducted, the mean amount of seeding agent (AgI) expended on those days, and the mean amount of seeding agent expended per storm are shown. Of the more recent project seasons, 2009 was most similar to 2007. ........................................................ 49 Figure 37: The total number of missions flown, the total flight time, total number of storms seeded, and total amount of seeding agent expended is shown for each of the first 14 project seasons. The 2009 season ranked at or near the bottom in each category, making it, overall, the least active season since the project began in 1996.................................................................................................................................. 50 Figure 38: Map of all hailstorm tracks during 2009. (WMI graphic by Jason Goehring.) .......................... 53 Figure 39: Daily and accumulated rainfall for Calgary from February 2009 to January 2010. ................... 61 Figure 40: Daily and accumulated rainfall for Red Deer from February 2009 to January 2010. ................ 62 Figure 41: Precipitation (left) and departures from normal (right) during the month of June 2009 in the Province of Alberta. ..................................................................................................................................... 63 Figure 42: Precipitation (left) and departures from normal (right) during the month of July 2009 in the Province of Alberta. ..................................................................................................................................... 63 Figure 43: Precipitation (left) and departures from normal (right) during the month of August 2009 in the Province of Alberta. ..................................................................................................................................... 64 Figure 44: The recorded precipitation for the months of September and October 2009, as provided by Alberta Environment. The last project seeding mission was flown on 22 August 2009, and the project season ended on 15 September. ................................................................................................................ 64 Figure 45: Alberta Financial Services Corp. straight hail insurance loss-to-risk ratio and loss-ratio statistics for the entire Province of Alberta from 1978 to 2009.................................................................... 65 Figure 46: Alberta Financial Services Corp. straight hail insurance loss-to-risk ratio trend analysis from 1978 to 2009 for the entire Province of Alberta, separating the periods into before WMI seeding prior to 1996 and after WMI seeding from 1996 to 2009. ..................................................................................... 66

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Canadian census figures (2006, 2001) for the largest towns and cities in the project area......... 15 Table 2: Yield (per gram) of the ICE glaciogenic pyrotechnic (DeMott 1999). ........................................... 31 Table 3: Activation Rate of Nuclei Produced by ICE Pyrotechnic .............................................................. 32 Table 4: Radar parameter calibration values for the Alberta WMI EEC WR-100 radar............................. 44 Table 5: Operational Statistics for 1996 to 2009. ....................................................................................... 51 Table 6: Cloud seeding flare and solution usage by aircraft, by season. EJ refers to 20 gram ejectable AgI flares. BIP refers to 150 gram burn-in-place AgI flares. The AgI solution burn rate is 2.5 gallons (U.S.) per hour............................................................................................................................................. 52 Table 7: Description of Convective Day Category (CDC) Index................................................................. 54 Table 8: Summary of daily atmospheric parameters used as inputs for the daily forecast of the CDC during 2009. ................................................................................................................................................ 56 Table 9: Summary of daily forecast atmospheric parameters on 23 hail days during 2009....................... 57 Table 10: The observed versus forecast days with and without hail for the summer of 2009. .................. 58 Table 11: Table of Forecast versus Observed CDC daily values for 2009. ............................................... 59 Table 12: Annual Summary of Convective Day Categories (CDC) ............................................................ 60

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WMI wishes to acknowledge the continuing, kind support of Todd Klapak (President) and Catherine Janssen (Chief Financial Officer) and the entire Board of Directors of the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society (ASWMS). The understanding, support, and cooperation of the ASWMS are greatly appreciated. A number of organizations and people deserve recognition and thanks. The cooperation of these people and agencies are very important to make the project a success and much more enjoyable. The cooperation of NAV Canada is greatly appreciated and acknowledged. Several persons deserve special recognition: Richard Hubbs of the Edmonton Area Control Center; and Mark McCrea, Scott Young, and Brent Lopushinsky of the Calgary Terminal Air Operations. The excellent cooperation by the ATC once again played a very important role in allowing the project pilots to treat the threatening storms in an efficient and timely manner as required, often directly over the city of Calgary. Rob Adamchuk of Transport Canada helped us dot all the is and cross all the ts in completing the requisite paperwork. Rob Cruickshank, Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) in Lacombe is thanked for providing the crop insurance information. For the fourteenth year, special thanks go to Bob Jackson for sharing his office and hangar at the Olds-Didsbury airport, used for the radar and communications operations centre.

WMI wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the staff who served on the project during the summer of 2009: meteorologists (Jason Goehring, Dr. Viktor Makitov, and Matthew Becker), electronics-radar technician Barry Robinson, pilots-in-command (Robert Gorman, Zac Glass, Jeff Allen, Joel Zimmer, Ben Heibert, and Marcus Stevenson); the co-pilots (Ryan Young, Michael Tonietto, Katie Burgess, and Jason Wannamaker) and the aircraft maintenance coordinator (Gary Hillman). The staff performed very well as a team. The support of the WMI corporate head office in Fargo, North Dakota, is acknowledged, specifically: Patrick Sweeney, James Sweeney, Randy Jenson, Hans Ahlness, Jody Fischer, Bruce Boe, Dennis Afseth, Cindy Dobbs, Mark Grove, Erin Fischer, and Mike Clancy are gratefully acknowledged.

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1.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Hailstorms pose a serious threat to property and crops in the province of Alberta. Historically, claims for agricultural hail damage are received on an average of 50 days each year between 1 June and 10 September (Summers and Wojtiw, 1971). The most recent climatology of hail in Canada was published by Etkin and Brun (1999) in the International Journal of Climatology. The average number of hail days per year, based on the 19551995 climate normals (Environment Canada and U.S. National weather Service) is shown in Figure 1. The highest frequency of hail in Canada occurs in Alberta between the North Saskatchewan River and the Bow River, immediately downwind of the Rocky Mountain foothills. This active region is often referred to as Hail Alley.

Figure 1: The average number of hail days per year, based on the 19551995 climate data from Environment Canada and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Graphic courtesy of the National Geographic Society (1999). Etkin and Brun (1999) point out that the period 19771993 was associated with substantial increases in Canadian hail-observing stations. The importance of topographical features such as the Rocky Mountains is very clear; their influence in the U.S. is also obvious. The City of Calgary is in a region that normally receives between 3 and 4 hailstorms each year. By overlaying the hail frequency map with the population density map, the region of greatest financial risk to insurance companies covers the area from Calgary to Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House. For this reason, this is the region that was selected as the target area for the hail suppression program.

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Insurance claims due to hailstorms in urban areas worldwide have generally escalated over the past 10 years. Denver Colorado was pounded by golf-ball to tennis-ball sized hail on July 11, 1990, and damages reached a record (for the U.S.A. at that time) $625 million. In Canada, the damages associated with the severe hailstorm that struck Calgary on September 7, 1991, exceeded $416 million (Insurance Bureau of Canada 2004). Insured claims from the hailstorm that struck Sydney Australia on April 14, 1999, were approximately $1.5 billion, making it the most damaging event in Australian insurance history. A study by Herzog (2002) compiled and summarized the hailstorm damages in the USA for the period 1994-2000 for the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Verified hail losses amounted to $2.5 Billion per year, with the actual amount possibly being 50% higher. Personal building losses totalled $11.5 Billion (66%), commercial building losses totalled $2.7B (15%), and vehicles accounted for $3.3B (19%). More recently, the most damaging hailstorm ever recorded in the USA moved from eastern Kansas to southern Illinois on 10 April 2001, depositing 2.5 to 7.5 cm diameter hailstones along a 585 km path, over portions of the St. Louis and Kansas City urban areas collectively created $1.9 billion in damage claims from a 2-day period, becoming the ninth most costly weather catastrophe in the United States since property insurance records began in 1949 (Changnon and Burroughs 2003). Estimates of the average annual crop loss to hail have also continued to increase with time, from $50 million annually in 1975 (Renick 1975) to more than $150 million annually during the period 1980-1985 (Alberta Research Council 1986). Actual insured crop losses are typically in the $80M range annually. The new Alberta Hail Suppression Project was initiated in 1996 as a result of the increased frequency of damaging hailstorms in Alberta, compounded by an increasing population inside an area of high storm frequency. It is the first project of its kind in the World to be entirely funded by private insurance companies with the sole objective of reducing the damage to property by hail. At this time, Alberta Crop Insurance and the Provincial and Federal Governments do not contribute financially to the project, although both stand to benefit from the seeding. Weather Modification, Inc. (WMI) has been a leader in the field of hail suppression since the early 1960s. With extensive knowledge and experience in the cloud seeding industry, WMI is best known for its successful hail suppression operations in the northern Great Plains and other cloud modification services around the world e.g. Argentina, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Mali and Saudi Arabia. WMI was awarded the first contract to conduct the Alberta Hail Suppression Project in April 1996 by the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society. The project was designated an ongoing program of the Alberta insurance industry in 2001 because of the drop in hail damage costs in Alberta, counter to the trend in the rest of the country and the World. The contract calls for the provision of all personnel and equipment for a turnkey system of cloud seeding and related services for the purpose of reducing hail damage to property in south-central (Calgary to Red Deer) Alberta. The organization chart of the project is shown in Fig. 20.

1.1

The 2009 Field Program

In 2009 WMI conducted the operational cloud-seeding program from June 1st through September 15th. The project is based upon the conceptual model, methodology, and research results of the long-term hail research project conducted by the Alberta Research Council from the late 1960s through 1985 (Alberta Research Council 1986) and by WMI in North Dakota (Smith et al. 1997). The present program utilizes the latest cloud seeding technology available, incorporating several notable improvements over previous projects in the province. These improvements include: New fast-acting, high-yield mixtures for the silver-iodide flares and seeding solution. The flares are manufactured by Ice Crystal Engineering (ICE) of North Dakota. The new generation ICE 11 13 14 pyrotechnics produce >10 ice nuclei per gram of AgI at -4C, and produce between 10 and 10 ice nuclei per gram of pyrotechnic between -6C and -10C. Colorado State University isothermal cloud chamber tests indicate that at a temperature of -6.3C, 63% of the nuclei are active in <1 min, and 90% active in 1.12 minutes. This high yield, fast-acting agent is important for hail suppression since the time-window of opportunity for successful intervention of the hail growth process may be less than 10 minutes.

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Use of the latest GPS tracking and advanced TITAN (Thunderstorm Identification, Tracking, Analysis and Nowcasting) computer software to accurately display the aircraft locations on the radar displays to improve the controlling of aircraft and facilitate the direction of seeding operations to the most critical regions of the storms. Injection of the seeding material directly into the developing cloud turrets as the most frequent seeding method. Use of experienced meteorological and aviation staff to direct the seeding aircraft as well as to accurately identify the proper regions of storms for seeding;

The target or "protected" area is shown in Fig. 2 and focuses on the area from Lacombe in the north, to High River in the south, with priority given to the cities of Calgary and Red Deer. In 2007, the target area was increased slightly towards the east to include the town of Strathmore and some of the smaller towns east of the QEII highway. Four aircraft specially equipped to dispense silver iodide were used. Two aircraft (one Piper Cheyenne II and one C340) were based in Calgary and two aircraft (one Beechcraft King Air C90 and one C340) were based in Red Deer. The radar is located at the Olds-Didsbury airport. The radar coordinates are 51.71 N Latitude, 114.11 W Longitude, with a station elevation of 1024 m above sea level. The WMO station identifier is no. 71359 and the ICAO identifier is CEA3. The project area dimension is approximately 240 km (N-S) by 120 km (E-W) or 28,800 sq km.

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Figure 2: Map of southern Alberta showing the project target area (Figure courtesy J. Renick).

1.2

Project Objectives

The project has two main objectives: Conduct cloud seeding using 4 aircraft with experienced crews to suppress hail for the purpose of reducing damage to property; Operate a C-band weather radar to collect weather information by skilled, professional meteorologists to identify and accurately track storms and potential storms, direct aircraft for hail suppression purposes, and collect data for archival that may be used for the scientific assessment of the program's effectiveness.

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Priorities
Table 1 lists the 2006 census figures for the cities and towns within the project area. Priority is given according to population, which is related to the risk of property damage. This list was posted in the radar control room as a constant reminder to the meteorologists of the priority when allocating resources to storms on any given day. The biggest increases in population have occurred in Cherstermere, Airdrie, Okotoks, Strathmore, Blackfalds, and Sylvan Lake. Project meteorologists made special note of the fact that the combined population of Turner Valley and Black Diamond is almost as large as Blackfalds or Didsbury. Storms that do not threaten a town or city are not likely to be seeded. Also, most storms are not seeded after they cross the QEII highway, except for storms east of Airdrie and Calgary that might threaten Strathmore. Table 1: Canadian census figures (2006, 2001) for the largest towns and cities in the project area.
Priority Geographic Name Canada Alberta Calgary Metro Area Calgary Red Deer Airdrie Okotoks Cochrane Lacombe High River Strathmore Sylvan Lake Chestermere Innisfail Olds Rocky Mountain House Ponoka Blackfalds Didsbury Turner Valley & Black Diamond Three Hills Carstairs Crossfield Sundre Rimbey Penhold Vulcan Irricana Bowden Bentley Trochu Eckville Beiseker Delburne Linden Acme Caroline Cremona Population, 2006 31,612,897 3,290,350 1,079,310 988,193 82,772 28,927 17,145 13,760 10,742 10,716 10,225 10,208 9,564 7,316 7,248 6,874 6,576 4,571 4,275 3,808 3,089 2,656 2,648 2,518 2,252 1,961 1,940 1,243 1,205 1,083 1,005 951 804 765 660 656 515 463 Population, 2001 30,007,094 2,974,807 951,494 879,003 67,829 20,407 11,689 12,041 9,384 9,383 7,621 7,503 6,462 6,943 6,607 6,208 6,355 3,116 3,932 3,474 2,902 2,254 2,399 2,277 2,154 1,729 1,762 1,043 1,174 1,040 1,033 1,019 838 719 636 648 556 415 % Change 5% 11% 13% 12% 22% 42% 47% 14% 14% 14% 34% 36% 148% 5% 10% 11% 3% 47% 9% 10% 6% 18% 10% 11% 5% 13% 10% 19% 3% 4% -3% -7% -4% 6% 4% 1% -7% 12%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

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2.

PROJECT PERSONNEL

The project personnel for the 2009 project collectively were a cohesive, experienced group. Overall project coordination was provided before and during the project period from the WMI corporate offices, located in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. Senior Vice President, Mr. James Jim Sweeney (Fig. 3), served as the primary liaison to the Alberta Severe Wether Management Society, and handled all corporate-level matters. Jim attended the preproject ground school in Calgary, and also the post-project wrap up at project end in late September, and also a follow-up meeting in mid-October. Logistics for the 2009 project were handled by Ms. Erin Fischer (Fig. 3), who also organized the pre-project ground school in Calgary, monitored all project records throughout, and assisted with the compilation of this final report. All WMI records were kept current electronically using Microsoft SharePoint software, which allowed the immediate upload of flight forms, receipts, seeding agent inventory, flight hour logs, and more. Erin trained and coached the field crew in the use of SharePoint, as well. All aviation-related matters were handled by Mr. Hans Ahlness, Vice President of Operations, and Mr. Jody Fischer, Chief Pilot (Fig. 4). This included staffing, assignment of aircraft, provision of maintenance and handling/coordination of any non-routine maintenance issues, and procurement of airport office facilities at Calgary and Red Deer. Jody provided considerable assistance before and during project start-up, ensuring that all the air crews had everything they needed, and his skills and experience with convective cloud seeding operations helped ensure that flight operations were both safe and effective. Figure 3 Project support was provided by WMI Senior Vice President Jim Sweeney (left) and Erin Fischer (right).

Figure 4: Support for aviation services was provided and coordinated by Mr. Hans Ahlness, Vice PresidentOperations and project comanager (left) and Mr. Jody Fischer, Chief Pilot (right).

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All of the meteorological aspects of the project were managed by Mr. Bruce Boe, Director of Meteorology. In addition, three full-time meteor-ologists were assigned to the project and based in Alberta throughout the project duration. The three full-time meteorologists were Mr. Jason Goehring, lead meteorologist; Dr. Viktor Makitov, and Mr. matt Becker. All four (Fig. 5) have considerable experience in cloud seeding for hail suppression. Bruces experiences in hail suppression operations began in 1982, and Viktors about the same time. Jason worked his fifth season on the Alberta Project in 2009. Though new to Alberta this season, Matt had worked four seasons on a hail suppression program in North Dakota prior to his trip north. Figure 5: The 2009 project meteorologists, in the operations centre at the Olds-Didsbury Airport. Back: Bruce Boe, Project Co-manager (left), and Jason Goehring, Lead Meteorologist. Front: Matt Becker (left) and Dr. Viktor Makitov. (WMI photograph by Terry Krauss.) Throughout the 2009 season the project was co-managed for WMI by Hans Ahlness (aviation) and Bruce Boe (meteorology). For the first thirteen seasons (19962008), the Alberta Project was very capably managed by WMI Senior Scientist, Dr. Terry Krauss, a Red Deer native. In 2009, Terrys obligations to other WMI projects became such that he requested to be released from his duties as project manager, a request that was honored, reluctantly. Terry continued to have a presence on the project, especially in June 2009, frequently visiting the operations center, and participating in tours conducted for employees of some of the sponsoring insurers. Figure 6: Dr. Terry Krauss and 2009 Lead Meteorologist Jason Goehring contemplate meteorological data in the operations center in early June, 2009. (WMI photograph by Bruce Boe.)

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Experienced flight crews returned to the project in 2009. Many had flown seasons on the Alberta Project in previous seasons. All captains were seasoned veterans, well-versed in the nuances of convective cloud seeding. The 2009 flight crews were led by Captain Bob Gorman, project lead pilot. Captain Gorman was assigned to HAILSTOP 1, based in Calgary. The second Calgary-based aircraft was HAILSTOP 2, which was capably flown by Captain Jeff Allen. Gorman and Allen were assisted by Captain Ben Heibert, who also stood ready to flight either aircraft (as Captain) if needed (Fig.7).

Figure 7: Calgary-based Pilots-in-Command (Captains), from left to right: Bob Gorman (lead project pilot, HAILSTOP 1, Cheyenne II N234K), Jeff Allen (HAILSTOP 2, Cessna 340A N457DM), and Ben Hiebert (HAILSTOP 1 and 2).

Figure 8: Red Deer-based Pilots-in-Command (Captains), from left to right: Joel Zimmer (HAILSTOP 4, Cessna 340A 123KK), Marcus Stevenson (HAILSTOP 3, King Air C90 N911FG), and Zac Glass (HAILSTOP 3 and 4). Two additional aircraft were based in Red Deer. HAILSTOP 3 was flown by Captain Marcus Stevenson, and HAILSTOP 4 by Captain Joel Zimmer. Stevenson and Zimmer were assisted by Captain Zac Glass, who also was prepared to fly either HAILSTOP 3 or 4 (as Captain) if/when needed. All three are pictured in Fig. 8. All HAILSTOP aircraft always flew with a crew of two, a captain and a first officer (or pilot and copilot). Four persons routinely served as first officers (Fig. 9). Jason Wannamaker, Katie Burgess, and Ryan Young all served in that capacity in Calgary, and Michael Tonietto did the same in Red Deer. From Red Deer, Captain Zac Glass would fill in the empty seat in either HAILSTOP 3 or 4, whichever was unoccupied by Tonietto.

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Figure 9: Project Copilots (First Officers), from left to right: Jason Wannamaker (Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 and 2), Katie Burgess (Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 and 2), Ryan Young (Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 and 2), and Michael Tonietto (Red Deer, HAILSTOP 3 and 4). Aircraft maintenance issues were handled by Mr. Gary Hillman (Fig. 10). Hillman, who is based in Calgary, has the connections necessary to ensure prompt address of maintenance issues in eithe Calgary or Red Deer. Maintenance of the project radar, sited at the Olds-Didsbury Airport, and other electronic equipment used by the project (excepting avionics) was expeditiously handled by Mr. Barry Robinson, of Penhold (Fig. 10). Robinson has been handling this for many seasons.

Figure 10: Critical on-site project support for electronics and radar services was provided by Barry Robinson (left), of Penhold. Aviation maintenance support was provided in Calgary by Gary Hillman (right).

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3.

HAIL AND HAIL SUPPRESSION CONCEPTS

The hail suppression conceptual model is based on the results of the former research program of the Alberta Research Council and the experiences of WMI in the USA, Canada, Argentina, and Greece. It involves the use of silver iodide reagents to seed the developing feeder clouds near the -10C level in the upshear, new growth propagation region of hailstorms. The silver-iodide reagents initiate the rapid development of small ice particles through the condensation-freezing nucleation process, and thus produce enhanced concentrations of ice crystals that compete for the available, supercooled liquid water in storms. This helps prevent the growth of large, damaging hail. The seeding also stimulates the precipitation process by speeding the growth of ice-phase hydrometeors, initially into snow pellets (also called graupel) which fall from the cloud earlier, melt, and reach the ground as rain, instead of continuing to grow into large ice particles that reach the ground as damaging hail.

3.1

The Formation of Hail

Understanding of the development of hail includes knowledge gained from work by Chisholm (1970), Chisholm and Renick (1972), Marwitz (1972a, b, and c), Barge and Bergwall (1976), Krauss and Marwitz (1984), and English (1986). Direct observational evidence from the instrumented aircraft penetrations of Colorado and Alberta storms in the 1970s and early 1980s indicates that hail embryos grow within the evolving main updraft of single cell storms and within the updrafts of developing feeder clouds (the cumulus towers) that flank mature multi-cell and supercell storms (see e.g. Foote 1984, Krauss and Marwitz 1984). The computation of hail growth trajectories within the context of measured storm wind fields provided a powerful new tool for integrating certain parts of hail growth theories, and illustrated a striking complexity in the hail growth process. Some of this complexity is reviewed in the paper of Foote (1985) that classifies a broad spectrum of storm types according to both dynamic and microphysical processes thought to be critical to hail production. Small precipitation embryos that eventually grow into hailstones are called hail embryos. Hail embryo sources identified by Foote (1985) include the following: Embryos from first-ice in a time-developing updraft Embryos from first-ice in the core of a long-lived updraft Embryos from flanking cumulus congestus Embryos from a merging mature cell Embryos from a mature cell positioned upwind Embryos from the edges of the main updraft Embryos created by melting and shedding Embryos from entrainment of stratiform cloud Embryos from embedded small-scale updrafts and downdrafts Recirculation of embryos that have made a first pass through the updraft core

Hail embryos grow into hailstones by collecting unfrozen, supercooled liquid water through collisions. This water freezes to the already-frozen embryo, increasing the size, weight, and fall speed, and also the potential for damage at the surface. This growth to large hail is theorized to occur primarily along the edges of the main storm updraft where the merging feeder clouds interact with the main storm updraft (WMO 1995). However, the mature hailstorm most certainly consists of complicated airflow patterns and particle trajectories. Studies of the internal structure of large hailstones in Alberta and elsewhere have shown that hailstones can have either a graupel (snow pellet) embryo or a frozen drop embryo. The different hail embryos indicate different growth histories and trajectories and illustrate the complexity within a single hailstorm.

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3.2

Hail Suppression

The present seeding methodology modifies the graupel embryo hail development process. Frozen drop hail embryos are thought to originate from secondary sources (shedding from large existing hailstones, or via a recirculation process at the edge of the main updraft). Cloud seeding can only reduce the hail that grows from frozen drop embryos if the available liquid water can be reduced to limit their growth, or if the dynamics of the storm can be affected to eliminate the recirculation processes that formed the drop embryo in the first place. Both are extremely complex, and are not the focus of the Alberta project. The governing premise of the Alberta cloud seeding operations is the cloud microphysical concept called beneficial competition. The premise of beneficial competition is that the well-documented natural deficiency of ice nuclei (ice-forming particles) in the atmosphere can be corrected by the release of additional ice nuclei into developing storm clouds. This is done by the combustion of small amounts of silver iodide (AgI), either as pyrotechics (flares) or a combustible solution. With either method, 14 approximately 10 (or 100,000,000,000,000) ice nuclei are produced for each gram of silver iodide burned, e.g., see Fig. 18. This potentially increases greatly the number of precipitation embryos in the cloud. These natural and human-made ice crystals, many of which become precipitation, then compete for the available supercooled liquid cloud water within the storm. Because the total amount of supercooled liquid remains essentially unchanged, that same mass is devided among the increased number of embryos, meaning the final maximum size of each individual ice particle is significantly decreased. Hence, the hailstones that form within seeded clouds will be smaller and produce less damage if they should survive the fall to the surface. If they are sufficiently small they will melt completely in the warmer subcloud layer, and reach the ground as rain. Cloud seeding alters the microphysics of the treated clouds, assuming that the existing precipitation process is inefficient due to a lack of natural ice nuclei. This deficiency of natural ice has been documented in the new growth zone of Alberta storms (Krauss 1981). Cloud seeding does not alter directly the energy or dynamics of the storm. Any alteration of the storm dynamics that does occur results as a consequence of the increased ice crystal concentrations and the development of additional precipitation-sized ice particles earlier in the clouds lifetime. Because the mature hailstorm consists of complex airflows and precipitation trajectories cloud seeding does not affect all hail embryo sources. It does, however, modify the primary hail formation process. In other words; the cloud seeding cannot attempt to eliminate all of the hail, but can reduce the size and amount of hail. A schematic diagram of the conceptual storm model showing the hail origins and growth processes within a hailstorm is shown in Fig. 11. The cloud seeding methodology applied to the new growth zone of the storm is illustrated.

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Figure 11: The conceptual model of hailstone formation and hail mitigation processes for Alberta (adapted from WMO, 1995). This schematic shows generalized cloud seeding flight paths at feeder-cloud tops and below cloud-base, typically employed for mature thunderstorms. As mentioned previously, cloud seeding cannot prevent or completely eliminate the occurrence of damaging hail. We presently do not have the ability to predict with any certainty exactly the amount and size of hail that would occur if cloud seeding did not take place. Therefore, we do not have the ability to predict with certainty the net effect of the seeding. We seed the new growth zone of potential hailstorms and observe the amounts and types of precipitation at the surface, as well as the radar reflectivity characteristics of the storm before, during, and after seeding. We expect that the successful application of the technology will yield a decrease of damaging hail by approximately 50% from what would have occurred if seeding had not taken place. This expectation is consistent with the results reported in North Dakota (Smith et al. 1997) and in Greece (Rudolph et al. 1994). The decrease in hail can only be measured as an average over time (e.g. 5 years or more) within the operations area, and then compared with the historical values for the same area. Because of these uncertainties, the evaluation of any hail mitigation program requires a statistical analysis. The characteristics of both seeded and unseeded storms vary considerably, such that any storm trait can be found in either category.

3.3

Precipitation Efficiency

A common question about cloud seeding concerns the effect on the rainfall. The effects of seeding to suppress hail on storm rainfall are not dramatic, but slightly positive. The target area, and Alberta as a whole lack the high density time-resolved precipitation measurements necessary to provide a scientificallymeaningful rainfall analysis. However, evaluation of another long-term hail suppression program in neighboring North Dakota that does have such a precipitation network found that rainfall is increased about 5 to 10 percent compared to that from similar unseeded clouds (ND Atmospheric Resource Board, State Water Commission). Since methodology, seasons, and seeding agents are the same, and since the storms themselves are very similar, it is reasonable to believe that effects in rainfall in Alberta are similar. All this is wholly consistent with the concept that the number of precipitation embryos is increased by glaciogenic seeding. There is a common (yet false) belief by much of the public and even a few scientists that thunderstorms operate at near 100% efficiency in producing rainfall. This is not logical, for 100% efficiency would require that all moisture processed by a storm would fall to the ground; no cloud, even, could remain. This is far from the case. There have been numerous studies of the fluxes of air and water vapor through convective clouds; these are summarized in Fig. 12.
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Precipitation efficiencies can vary widely from as little as 2% for storms studied by Marwitz (1972) and Dennis et al. (1970) to near 100% for a select few. Marwitz (1972) and Foote and Fankhauser (1973) show that in the case of High Plains storms there is an inverse relation between the precipitation efficiency and the environmental wind shear in the cloud-bearing layer. [Wind shear is the change in wind speed and direction at various altitudes.] The least efficient storms tend to be supercell hailstorms; the highly efficient storms tend not to produce hail at all. The average wind shear on hail days in Alberta is -3 -1 approximately 2.5 x 10 sec . This average shear value corresponds to an average precipitation efficiency of approximately 50% (see again Fig. 12). For reasons previously stated, it logically follows that the production of large, damaging hail is largely a result of natural storm inefficiency. The introduction of more precipitation embryos, through seeding, earlier in a clouds lifetime is highly advantageous, making the cloud more efficient as a rain producer, and in the process reducing the amount and size of any hail. Increasing the rainfall from a hailstorm by 20% through seeding is a very achievable goal, and means that less water is lost either via the entrainment of dry environmental air through the sides and top of the cloud, or lost because ice crystals are vented from the cloud anvil at the top of the troposphere and which quickly sublimate back to the vapor phase at high altitudes.

Figure 12: Precipitation efficiency for High Plains convective storms. Known supercell hailstorms are labeled S. Storms that produced rain only are labeled R. (Figure from Browning 1977, copyright American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA).

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4.

OPERATIONS PLAN

The following guidelines represent the current state of the science as applied to the conduct of hail suppression operations, as is applied by Weather Modification, Inc. in Alberta.

4.1

Identification of Hail Producing Storms (Opportunity Recognition)

The height of the 45 dBZ contour (a radar echo-strength level) was a criterion tested in the Swiss hail suppression program. The Swiss research indicated that all hailstorms had 45 dBZ contours that exceeded the 5C temperature altitude (Waldvogel et al. 1979). There was a False Alarm Rate (FAR) of 50%, largely because some strong rainstorms also met the criterion. However, it is much preferable to make an error and assume that a heavy rainstorm is going to produce hail than to mistakenly believe that a hailstorm is only going to produce heavy rain. Studies of Alberta hailstorms also indicated that 50% of all Alberta hail storms had a maximum radar reflectivity greater than 45 dBZ, higher than the -5C level (Humphries et al. 1987). The Russian criteria for hail identification stated that the height of the 45 dBZ contour had to exceed the height of the 0C isotherm by more than 2 km (Abshaev 1999). Similarly, the criteria used by the National Hail Research Experiment in the USA 1972-1974 for a declared hail day was defined by radar maximum reflectivity greater than 45 dBZ above the -5C level (Foote and Knight 1979). Our experience suggests that the Swiss/Alberta/Russian/USA criterion is reasonable (Makitov 1999). The physical reasoning behind it is simply that radar reflectivity (45 dBZ) implies that significant supercooled liquid water exists at temperatures cold enough for large hail growth. In Alberta, the TITAN cell identification program was set to track any cell having >10 km of 40 dBZ reflectivity, extending above 3 km altitude (MSL). Each cell tracked by TITAN was then considered to be a potential hail cell; therefore, this represents our seeding criterion. A storm is a candidate for seeding if the storm cell (as defined by TITAN) is moving towards, and is expected to reach, a town or city within the target area in less than 30 min.
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4.2

Onset of Seeding

In order for cloud seeding to be successful, it is the goal of the program to seed (inject ice nucleating agents) the developing "new growth" cloud towers of potential hail-producing storms at least 20 minutes before the damaging hail falls over a town or city within the target zone. For the Alberta project, the principal targets are the towns and cities within the project area (see again, Table 1). Since 20 minutes is the minimum time reasonably expected for the seeding material to nucleate, and have the seeded ice crystals grow to sufficient size to compete for the available supercooled liquid water (and yield positive results), a 30 minute lead time is generally thought to be advisable.

4.3

Cloud Seeding Methodology

Radar meteorologists are responsible for initiating cloud seeding and patrol flights, alerting air crews of the presence of developing weather sufficiently in advance that aircraft will be ready for immediate flight when that time comes. The meteorologists advise the HAILSTOP aircraft when to takeoff, and guide them to the storms of concern. Patrol flights are often launched before clouds within the target area meet the radar reflectivity seeding criteria, especially over or near the cities of Calgary and Red Deer. These patrol flights ensure a quicker response to developing cells. In general, a patrol flight is launched in the event of visual reports of vigorous towering cumulus clouds, or when radar cell tops exceed 25 kft (7.6 km) height over the higher terrain in the western part of the operations area, especially on those days when the forecast calls for thunderstorms.

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Launches of additional aircraft are determined by the number and spacing of storms and the flight time required for each seeding aircraft to reach the desired location and altitude. Overlap of coverage (airspace) and on-station time are also considered. In general, only one aircraft can work safely at cloud top for each active thunderstorm complex due to collision-avoidance and Air Traffic Control considerations. If, when multiple storms develop they are sufficiently spaced, more than one aircraft can work at cloud top simultaneously, but horizontal separation must be enough to ensure there is no chance of either aircraft impinging on the others assigned airspace. [Cloud top seeding is always done under instrument flight rules (IFR), so separation is required by regulation as well as for safety.] When the clouds of interest are relatively small (especially common when storms first develop), there is often room only for one seeding aircraft to operate beneath the rainfree cloudbase as well. However, when storms are larger and visibility is good, multiple aircraft can often be used safely at cloud base on the same complex. This is possible because flight operations below cloud base are usually conducted under visual flight rules (VFR) and out of cloud, so separation of aircraft can be ensured visually. To accomplish this all cloud base seeding aircraft must be constantly aware of each others locations. In addition, a landing light may be turned on for added visibility. Responsibility for safe separation of aircraft is not a responsibility of the project meteorologists, though they can usually monitor the relative positions in real-time through the AirLink tracking system. Rather, the flight crews have this responsibility. Multiple aircraft are most often used on the same storm when the storms assume a linear structure and develop new growth (towering cumulus) along the leading edge of the line. The project utilises four aircraft to provide uninterrupted seeding coverage (at either cloud-base or cloud-top) and/or to seed up to four storms simultaneously, if required. Factors that determine which seeding strategy is used (cloud top or cloud base seeding) include: storm structure, visibility, cloud base height, and/or time necessary for HAILSTOP aircraft to reach seeding altitude. Cloud base seeding is conducted by flying just below the cloud base within the developing inflow of growing cumulus congestus (towering cumulus) clouds, or the inflow associated with the new growth zone in advance of the shelf cloud located on the upshear side of linear multi-cell storms (squall lines). Care is taken not to seed the strong updrafts of mature storms, for such such clouds are too advanced in their development and hail development - if it has occurred - is too far advanced to be averted. Cloud top seeding is usually conducted at altitudes where cloud temperatures are between the -5C and -15C and closer to the former when possible, typically at altitudes of about 18,000 to 20,000 feet msl. Cloud top seeding is done primarily with small pyrotechnics, comprised of 20 grams of silver iodide-based seeding agent, which are ejected into the supercooled updrafts of the developing cloud towers. Each flare burns for ~37 seconds, while falling about 3,000 ft (0.9 km). Nevertheless, a minimum 5,000 ft vertical separation (~1.5 km) is always maintained between cloud top and cloud base seeding aircraft. The cloud top seeding aircraft penetrate or skim the tops of developing, supercooled, largely ice-free (and therefore free of radar echo), cumulus congestus cells as they mature. When multicell storms are present or when more isolated storms have feeder clouds, the seeding aircraft penetrate or skim the tops of the developing cumulus towers as they grow up through the -10C flight level. The direction of flight is determined by the location of any more mature, adjacent cells, which cannot be safely penetrated. When the growing cells of interest are embedded within surrounding cloud, and also with most convective complexes at night, there are no clearly defined feeder turrets visible to the flight crews. Seeding aircraft can use their onboard weather radars to help position themselves in these cases; however, aircraft radars are designed for weather avoidance, not for the detection of non-precipitating clouds, and so see only mature cells - those beyond the growth stage where seeding can be effective. In these instances, seeding aircraft will skim the storm edge at altitudes between -5C and -10C, near the region of tightest radar reflectivity gradient. Seeding is done primarily by ejecting multiple 20-gram flares into cloud elements when updrafts and liquid water are encountered. A burn-in-place flare may be ignited also, especially when turrets are closely spaced and seedable cloud volumes are frequently encountered. Nocturnal seeding may also be performed from below the cloud base altitude when visibility is sufficient.

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An idea of what night seeding is like is provided by Fig. 13. Lightning can often help provide illumination at the cloud base and at cloud top, but such illumination is irregular, very brief, and by nature, flat, meaning that human eyes struggle to perceive much depth and distance perception. Nevertheless, lightning does help in conducting nocturnal operations. On occasion, additional illumination may be provided by moonlight, especially if the upper reaches of the storm anvil do not shadow the developing turrets. In any case, the seedable clouds are those that have not yet produced precipitation, and therefore those devoid of radar echoes. For safety reasons flight operations require aircraft to avoid heavily electrified regions, and also close proximity to known hail and hail aloft, as indicated by the project radar. Wind shear and terrain clearance pose additional hazards. Though operations after dark are rare in Alberta because of the long summer days and lingering twilight hours, seeding operations are conducted whenever storms develop, even in the wee hours of the morning. Typically, this happens only once or twice per season.

Figure 13: When seeding nocturnal thunderstorms, lightning is a friend. It illuminates, if only sporadically and all too briefly, many cloud details that otherwise would go unseen. The single lightning flash here has revealed the rain-free cloud base (near which base seeding aircraft would operate), smaller, developing turrets that might be seedable (if cold enough), larger, maturing cloud cells that are no doubt too cold and ice-laden (and close to being detectable by radar), and the mature thunderstorm (behind) that has produced the lightning. (WMI photograph/graphic by Bruce Boe.)

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4.4

Cessation of Seeding

If the radar reflectivity criteria are met seeding of all cells still in a position to threaten damage to towns or cities is to be continued. However, seeding is effective only within cloud updrafts and in the presence of supercooled cloud water, i.e. the developing stage in the evolution of the thunderstorm. The mature and dissipating stages of a storm cannot be effectively seeded because seeding only works by enhancing ice development in clouds that are primarily ice-free, characteristics which only are manifest in developing cloud turrets. Storm complexes having no new development are destined for decay. While a few storms simply develop, mature, and decay without initiating secondary development, those that have the potential to produce hail almost always produce cool outflows that initiate more new growth adjacent to the mature and dissipating portions of the storm. This new growth extends storm life and is seedable, so aircraft must operate in some proximity to mature, electrified clouds and dangerous wind shears, which include violent up- and downdrafts. Safety thus becomes of paramount importance. The history of aviation is filled with accounts of aircraft destroyed by thunderstorms, and the potential today is just as real as ever. Safety of project aircraft and crews is ensured by strict adherence to flight policies that are designed to keep aircraft from ever entering mature portions of the storms, and from flying into extreme winds, hail, and lightning. Strong radar reflectivities can only persist when new cloud development continues; when it doesnt, decay is inevitable. Thus, when storms maintain their intensities, developing cloud regions must exist, even though it is sometimes if hard to find them. Such mature storm complexes are seedable only when the developing clouds are accessible to the seeding aircraft. If they are embedded within the mature clouds, hidden by decaying clouds, and cannot be approached from below (cloud base), seeding cannot safely occur. Storm cells being tracked by radar are not seeded if there are no indications of developing updraft or supercooled liquid water, or when the storm does not threaten a town or city.

4.5

Seeding Rates

A seeding rate of one 20 g flare every 5 sec while in supercooled updraft is typically used during cloud penetrations. A higher rate is used (e.g. 1 flare every 2 to 3 sec) if updrafts are very strong (e.g. greater than 2000 ft/min) or if the storm is particularly intense. Cloud seeding passes in the same region are immediately warranted if there are visual signs of continued new cloud growth or if the radar reflectivity gradient of the parent cell remains tight (indicative of continued growth and persistent updrafts). If not, a 5 to 10 min waiting period may be used between penetrations, to allow the seeding to take effect and for visual signs of glaciation to appear, or for radar reflectivities to decrease and gradients to weaken. Such waiting reduces the amount of seeding material used. Calculations show that the seeding rate of one flare every 5 sec will produce >1300 ice crystals per litre averaged over the plume within 2.5 min. This is more -1 than sufficient to deplete the liquid water content produced by updrafts up to 10 m s (2000 ft/min), thereby preventing the growth of hailstones within the seeded cloud volumes (Cooper and Marwitz 1980). For effective hail suppression, sufficient dispersion of the particles is required for the AgI plume from consecutive flares to overlap by the time the cloud particles reach hail size. The work by Grandia et al. (1979) based on turbulence measurements within Alberta feeder clouds indicated that the time for the diameter of the diffusing line of AgI to reach the integral length scale (200 m) in the inertial subrange size scales of mixing, is 140 seconds. This is insufficient time for ice particles to grow to hail size, therefore, -1 dropping flares at 5 sec (assuming a true-airspeed of 80 m s ) intervals should provide sufficient nuclei and allow adequate dispersion to effectively deplete the supercooled liquid water and reduce the growth of hail particles. The use of the 20 g flares and a frequent drop rate provides better seeding coverage than using larger flares with greater time/distance spacing between flare drops. In fact, the above calculations are conservative when one considers that the center of the ice crystal plume will have a greater concentration of ice crystals.

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For cloud base seeding a seeding rate using two solution-burning generators or one burn-in-place flare is -1 typically used, dependent on the updraft speed at the cloud base. For an updraft >500 ft min , generators and consecutive flares per seeding run are typically used. Cloud seeding runs are repeated until inflow (updraft area) has diminished or until the storm of concern has passed all urban areas. Solution burners are used to provide continuous silver iodide seeding if extensive regions of light or moderate updraft are found at cloud base in advance of the shelf cloud region. Base seeding is not conducted if only downdrafts are encountered at cloud base, since this would waste seeding material.

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5.

SEEDING AGENTS

Silver iodide is dispensed in three ways: (1) a seeding solution can be burned from wing-tip-borne ice nucleus generators, (2) pyrotechnics can be burned in place, while held to special racks affixed to the trailing edges of the aircraft wings, and (3) small pyrotechnics can be ignited and ejected into cloud tops from racks mounted on the aircraft fuselage. The cloud seeding pyrotechnics used by WMI are exclusively silver iodide formulation flares manufactured by Ice Crystal Engineering (ICE) of Kindred, North Dakota. The ejectable flares contain 20 g of seeding material and burn for approximately 37 sec and fall approximately 3000 ft. The burn-in-place (BIP) flares contain 150 g of seeding material, and burn for approximately 4 min. A photograph of a burning BIP flare during a ground demonstration is shown in Fig. 14. Figure 14 (right): A 150 gram burn-in-place (BIP) pyrotechnic burns in a ground demonstration at the OldsDidsbury Airport during the summer of 2009. When burned in flight such flares are carried in a horizontal position in racks affixed to the trailing edges of the wings. (WMI photograph courtesy of Marcus Stevenson.)

Figure 15: A sixteen-position burn-in-place (BIP) flare rack is shown on HAILSTOP 1. These BIP flares are typically burned consecutively, one at a time, while in updrafts below developing cloud towers. Each flare burns for about 4 minutes. (WMI photograph.)

The WMI solution-burning generators performed very well in 2009 (Fig. 16). Crews kept a close watch on igniter rods, valves, nozzles, and seals to ensure that the generators operated reliably. Details of the silver iodide solution are given in an Appendix. Arrangements were once again made with Solution Blend Services, a Calgary-based company, to pre-mix all seeding solution from reagent grade raw materials provided by WMI. All handling, mixing, storage, and labeling requirements established by law and regulation were fully satisfied.

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Figure 16: Wing-tip seeding generators burn a very effective silver-iodide seeding solution. Used almost exclusively while flying in updrafts below cloud base, these generators produce fast-acting ice nuclei that function by the condensation-freezing nucleation mechanism, the same as those produced by the pyrotechnics. However, these generators burn the solution at a slower rate than either of the flare types, and so can be used to deliver nuclei more slowly, but for hours at a time, for a more limited dosage when needed. (WMI photograph.)

Figure 17: Captain Joel Zimmer attaches the third of three ejectable flare racks to the fuselage belly of the King Air C90 seeding aircraft, HAILSTOP 3. Each rack contains 102 20-gram ejectable pyrotechnics for use in cloud-top seeding operations. (WMI photograph.)

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5.1

Flare Effectiveness

The Cloud Simulation and Aerosol Laboratory (SimLab) at Colorado State University (CSU) has tested the ice nucleating ability of aerosols produced from cloud seeding flares and solutions for many years (Garvey 1975, DeMott 1999). [Note: The SimLab is now closed and no longer performs such tests; a new testing facility to conduct these standardized tests is not yet available.] The current ICE pyrotechnics were tested at CSU in 1999 as reported by DeMott (1999). Aerosols were collected and tested at nominal temperatures of -4, -6 and -10C. At least two tests were done at each temperature, with greater emphasis placed on warmer temperatures. The cloud chamber liquid water -3 -3 content (LWC) was 1.5 g m for most tests, but 0.5 g m for some, enough to confirm the dependence of nucleation rate upon cloud droplet concentration. The primary product of the laboratory characterization is the "effectiveness plot" for the ice nucleant which gives the number of ice crystals formed per gram of nucleant as a function of cloud temperature. Yield results for the ICE flares at various sets of conditions are shown in Fig. 18 and are tabulated in Table 2. Figure 18: Yield of ice crystals (corrected) per gram of pyrotechnic versus cloud supercooling temperature (T<0C). Open diamond symbols are for experiments with cloud LWC (liquid water -3 content) of 1.5 g m , while the filled symbols are -3 for experiments with LWC equal to 0.5 g m . (Figure from DeMott 1999.)

Table 2: Yield (per gram) of the ICE glaciogenic pyrotechnic (DeMott 1999). Temp (C) -3.8 -4.0 -4.2 -4.3 -6.1 -6.3 -6.4 -10.5 -10.5 -4.2 -6.0 -10.5 LWC -3 (g m ) 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Raw Yield -1 (g AgI) 11 3.72x10 11 9.42x10 12 1.66x10 12 2.15x10 13 6.01x10 13 5.44x10 13 6.22x10 14 2.81x10 14 2.34x10 12 1.41x10 13 7.42x10 14 2.38x10 Corr. Yield -1 (g AgI) 11 3.87x10 11 9.63x10 12 1.70x10 12 2.21x10 13 6.13x10 13 5.56x10 13 6.34x10 14 2.85x10 14 2.37x10 12 1.45x10 13 7.73x10 14 2.41x10 Raw Yield -1 (g pyro) 10 4.01x10 11 1.02x10 11 1.80x10 11 2.32x10 12 6.49x10 12 5.87x10 12 6.72x10 13 3.03x10 13 2.87x10 11 1.53x10 12 8.01x10 13 2.91x10 Corr. Yield -1 (g pyro) 10 4.18x10 11 1.04x10 11 1.84x10 11 2.39x10 12 6.62x10 12 6.00x10 12 6.85x10 13 3.07x10 13 2.91x10 11 1.57x10 12 8.34x10 13 2.96x10 Yield (per pyro) 11 8.36x10 12 2.08x10 12 3.67x10 12 4.77x10 14 1.32x10 14 1.20x10 14 1.37x10 14 6.15x10 14 5.81x10 12 3.14x10 14 1.67x10 14 5.92x10

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Tests were also performed using the method of DeMott et al. (1983) to determine the characteristic times for effective ice nuclei activation; these are summarized in Fig. 19 and Table 3.

Figure 19: Times for 63% (diamond symbols) and 90% (square symbols) ice formation versus supercooling (T<0C) for the ICE pyrotechnic aerosols. Open and filled symbols are for cloud -3 LWC (liquid water content) of 1.5 and 0.5 g m , respectively. (DeMott 1999.)

Table 3: Activation Rate of Nuclei Produced by ICE Pyrotechnic Temp (C) -4.0 -4.2 -6.3 -6.0 -10.5 -10.5 LWC -3 (g m ) 1.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 k -1 (min ) 1.093 0.713 1.775 0.724 3.200 2.488 kdil -1 (min ) 0.023 0.019 0.038 0.028 0.045 0.040 kact -1 (min ) 0.935 0.694 1.737 0.696 3.155 2.448 T1/e (min) 0.94 1.44 0.48 1.43 0.32 0.41 T90% (min) 4.32 5.71 1.12 5.21 0.73 0.94 Yield Corr. 1.023 1.028 1.020 1.041 1.014 1.016

The primary results of the CSU SimLab tests of the glaciogenic cloud seeding pyrotechnics manufactured by ICE are summarized as follows (from DeMott 1999):

1. The aerosol particles produced by the new ICE pyrotechnics were highly efficient ice
nucleating aerosols. Yield values were approximately 1x10 , 5x10 and 3x10 ice crystals -3 per gram pyrotechnic at -4, -6 and -10C in 1.5 g m clouds in the CSU isothermal cloud chamber. Improvement compared to the previous pyrotechnic formulation used by ICE was modest at -6C, but most significant (factor of 3 increase in Yield) at -4C. The ICE pyrotechnics burned with a fine smoke and a highly consistent burn time of ~37 s. Rates of ice crystal formation were very fast, suggestive of a rapid condensation freezing process. The balance of observations showed no significant difference in the rate data obtained at varied cloud densities, supporting a conclusion that particles activate ice formation by condensation freezing.
12 13 14

2. 3.

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The CSU isothermal cloud chamber tests indicate that, on a per gram basis of pyrotechnic, these values are comparable to the best product available worldwide in the pyrotechnic format. High yield and fast acting agents are important for hail suppression since the time-window of opportunity for successful intervention of the hail growth process is often less than 10 minutes. More information about the ICE glaciogenic pyrotechnics can be found on the internet at www.iceflares.com.

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6.

PROGRAM ELEMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A schematic diagram of the operational elements for the Alberta Hail Suppression Project is shown in Fig. 20. Details of the individual elements are described in more detail below.

Figure 20: A schematic of the operational elements of the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. The radiosonde (weather balloon) depicted in Fig. 20 was part of the system on a limited bases during 2008, when WMI participated in the UNSTABLE research project in collaboration with Environment Canada and the Universities of Calgary, Alberta, and Manitoba, as reported in the 2008 annual project report. From those experiments we learned that the ETA/NAM model from the USA does an excellent job in predicting the main features of the atmospheric thermodynamic profiles (soundings) at Calgary and Red Deer. Although subtle details of inversion layers and moisture layers may not be resolved, the meteorologists have generally sufficient information about the instability of the atmosphere to construct quality forecasts. One of the greatest gaps in our real-time data concerns the presence, absence, or timing of trigger mechanisms which initiate the development of convective clouds. The increasing availability of near real-time surface and satellite images, largely via the internet, is improving this situation. All project meteorological information is received via the internet, so for some seasons now WMI has not implemented any data acquisition agreement with Environment Canada.

6.1

Ground School

A two-day pre-project ground school was conducted at the Intact Zone Training Centre, at the Intact Insurance offices in downtown Calgary (Friday, 29 May, Day 1), and at the Airport Holiday Inn Express (Saturday, 30 May, Day 2, Fig. 21) for all available project personnel.These sessions allowed the 2009 personnel to get better acquainted, and ensured that everybody was beginning the project with a unified understanding of policies, procedures, and safeguards.

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Project reporting requirements were presented and reviewed at the ground school. A representative of NAV CANADA (the Calgary office) participated in the ground school. Copies of the Ground School agenda, as well as copies of the Flight Log and Radar Log forms are included in the Appendices. The ground school was structured as outlined below: Figure 21: Ms. Erin Fischer explains the nuances of the SharePoint information management software to project personnel during Day 2 of the 2009 pre-project ground school, in Calgary. The software allows document sharing and access for data, inventories, administration, photographs, and reporting. (WMI photograph by Bruce Boe.)

DAY 1 - FRIDAY, 29 MAY 2009 All Project Personnel and ASWMS Board Members (invited) Welcome and Staff Introductions Introductory Remarks from the Insurance Industry Perspective Hail Program Overview and Status of Hail Suppression Concepts Overview of 1996-2008 Alberta Operations SevereWeather Forecasting ATC Controlling Procedures (NAV CANADA) AviationWeather & Special Procedures Targeting Seeding Rates, Storm Tracking and Directing Aircraft Maintenance Procedures Safety and Emergency Procedures Daily Routines & Procedures Cloud Seeding Chemical Inventory & Procedures DAY 2 SATURDAY, 30 MAY 2009 Project Personnel Only Job Responsibilities and Duties SharePoint data management software Introduction Paperwork and Accounting Procedures Hands-on SharePoint Session with the WMI personnel

6.2

Public Relations

A number of public and client relations activities occurred during the summer of 2009. A film crew from the National Geographic Society visited the project from 9-11 July 2009, to obtain a feel for what seeding thunderstorms would be like if hurricane mitigation could be attempted through cloud seeding. Of course, Alberta thunderstorms are not hurricanes, but hurricanes are comprised of bands of thunderstorms, so the look and feel, especially when seeding at cloud tops, would logically not be that different. Project lead pilot and HAILSTOP 1 pilot-in-command, Bob Gorman, was interviewed by CTV on 5 August 2009, in which the project was portrayed in a positive light.

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It has now been 14 years since the program started! There continue to be many persons within the insurance industry in central Alberta who are unfamiliar with the history of the program and details of the current cloud seeding project. On four occasions during the 2009 project, AXA Pacific Insurance sent groups ranging in numbers from 2 to 11 persons to the Olds-Didsbury operations centre. These groups were given a tour of the operations centre and radar, and project aircraft (one turboprop and one cloud base seeder) were flown into the Olds-Didsbury Airport to demonstrate how the seeding is conducted. Cooperators Insurance also sent a tour group of 14 persons to the operations centre. These informative field trips were very well received and appreciated. A photo of one such group from AXA Pacific Insurance that visited on 19 August 2009 is shown in Fig. 22. Though only AXA-Pacific and Cooperators sent groups to the operations centre in 2009, all companies contributing to the ASWMS are encouraged and welcome to do so. Preliminary plans have been made to present information seminars about the project and hail science be given as part of the Alberta Insurance Council accreditation program. The intent of this training course would be to inform the insurance industry about the background, organization, and methodology of the cloud seeding project so that support for the program can continue based on current and accurate information. A series of three such seminars have been tentatively scheduled for the last week of April 2010, for Calgary, Red Deer, and Medicine Hat.

Figure 22: Captain Zac Glass explains the functionality of ejectable pyrotechnics (on HAILSTOP 3) to a group from AXA Pacific Insurance that visited the Operations Centre at the Olds-Didsbury Airport on 19 August 2009. (WMI Photograph by Marcus Stevenson.)

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6.3

Flight Operations

Four specially equipped cloud seeding aircraft were dedicated to the project. The aircraft and crews provided 24 h coverage, seven days a week throughout the project period. Two aircraft were stationed in Calgary and two aircraft in Red Deer. This distribution of aircraft at two airports rather than one allowed aircraft from the closer airport to be launched initially, speeding the response and reducing the initial distance to the clouds of interest. Delays in launching from Calgary were minimized thanks to the cooperation of NAV CANADA air traffic control in Calgary. When convective clouds were detected by radar, the seeding aircraft were placed on standby status. Aircraft on standby status are able to launch and reach a target cloud within 60 min after the request to launch has been made by the controlling meteorologist. When seedable clouds are imminent, the seeding aircraft are placed on alert status. Aircraft on alert status are able to launch and reach a target cloud within 25 min after the request to launch. Aircraft were available and prepared to commence seeding missions at any time, day or night, and the seeding of storms often continued after darkness (with due regard to safety). Prior to the start of field operations, arrangements were made with NAV CANADA managers of Air Traffic Services in Calgary and Edmonton to coordinate the cloud seeding aircraft operations. Permission was again granted to file pre-defined flight plans for the project aircraft, with special designations and fixed transponder codes. The designated aircraft were as follows: HAILSTOP 1 for the Cheyenne II airplane (N234K) based in Calgary, HAILSTOP 2 for the C340 aircraft (N457DM) based in Calgary, HAILSTOP 3 for the King Air C90 aircraft (N911FG) stationed in Red Deer, and HAILSTOP 4 for the C340 aircraft (N123KK) based in Red Deer. Direct-line telephone numbers were used to notify air traffic controllers of cloud seeding launches. Aircraft were launched to a specific location identified by VOR and DME coordinates, or town. Distinct air traffic clearance was given to project aircraft within a 10 nautical mile radius of the specified storm location. Cloud top seeding aircraft were given 2,000 ft clearances above their altitude and 7,000 ft below their altitude. Cloud base aircraft were given a 1,000 ft altitude clearance. This procedure worked very well in general. On a few occasions, seeding aircraft were asked to climb to a higher altitude over the city of Calgary or to suspend seeding for a few minutes (<10 minutes) to allow other commercial aircraft to pass below them.

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Figure 23: Schematic figure showing aircraft cloud seeding block altitudes required for Air Traffic Control (ATC). Transponder codes assigned for the duration of the project by NAV CANADA to HAILSTOP aircraft (1-4) were 4401, 4402, 4403, and 4404, respectively. (WMI graphic.)

6.4

Cloud Seeding Aircraft

Three different models of twin-engine aircraft were utilized on the 2009 project. HAILSTOP 1, the cloudtop seeding aircraft based in Calgary, was a Piper Cheyenne II, a turboprop (also commonly called a propjet). HAILSTOP 3, the cloud-top seeding aircraft based in Red Deer, was a Beech King Air C-90, also a turboprop. Both cloud-base seeding aircraft (HAILSTOP 2 and 4) were Cessna model 340A. All four aircraft were each equipped with fuselage-mounted flare racks carrying 306 ejectable flares, each containing 20 grams of AgI, and also at least wing racks for 24 additional burn-in-place flares containing 150 grams of AgI.

Piper Cheyenne II
The Cheyenne II is a high performance twin-engine turboprop aircraft that has proven itself during seeding operations. The Cheyenne II stationed in Calgary, HAILSTOP 1 (N234K), is shown in Fig. 24. In Alberta, two pilots are used at all times for improved communications and safety. Standard equipment includes full dual VFR/IFR instrumentation, pressurized cabin, and emergency oxygen. The Cheyenne II has full deice equipment and is particularly well-suited for flying in icing conditions for extended periods of time. These conditions are common at seeding altitudes within the thunderstorms of Alberta. The endurance of the aircraft makes longer mission times possible, providing coverage of the entire project area if required, resulting in significant savings in aircraft, fuel and personnel costs. The added performance of the Cheyenne II provides sufficient power to climb safely above the dangerous icing zone (-10C to -15C) if required, or to descend to lower and warmer altitudes to deice and quickly climb back up to feeder cloud-top seeding altitude. It can also provide accurate measurements of cloud conditions and cloud temperature when so instrumented. A third seat was provided for training or observing purposes.

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The major advantages of the Cheyenne II are as follows: The four hour+ mission duration allows longer seeding missions and better seeding coverage; lower Jet fuel price per liter (compared to avgas); reserve power for severe icing conditions; higher speed for rapid response or ferry between target areas; and greater margin of safety due to speed and power. Figure 24: Calgarybased Piper Cheyenne II aircraft (N234K) designated as HAILSTOP 1, with Captain Bob Gorman during a visit to the operations center at the Olds-Didsbury Airport. The specifications of the Cheyenne II are given in an Appendix. The wing-mounted burn-in-place flare racks on HAILSTOP 1 each held 16 flares, for a total of 32 150-gram pyrotechnics. The Cheyenne II was also equipped with GPS navigation system, onboard, contouring weather avoidance radar, and a VHF radio system for direct contact with operational personnel at the communications and control center.

Beech King-Air C90

A photo of the Beechcraft King Air C90 designated HAILSTOP 3 (N911FG) is shown in Fig. 25. The specifications of the King Air C90 are given in the Appendix. The King Air was equipped with the same complement of seeding equipment as the Cheyenne II. The Cheyenne II and King Air C90 are both highperformance twin-engine turboprop aircraft that have been proven repeatedly in seeding operations. Figure 25: Beech King-Air C90 aircraft (N911FG) designated as HAILSTOP 3 parked at the OldsDidsbury Airport ramp, parked for static display prior to an operations centre and aircraft tour.

The two turboprop seeding aircraft (HAILSTOP 1 and HAILSTOP 3) are used primarily for seeding a cloud top by direct penetration of the growing cloud turrets. This direct targeting makes very effective use of these aircraft, which are most efficient at higher altitudes.

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C340A Aircraft
Cloud seeding was also conducted using two Cessna 340A aircraft equipped with racks for ejectable and burn-in-place flares, and also wing-tip ice nculeus generators that burned a silver iodide seeding solution. The aircraft registered as N457DM was designated as HAILSTOP 2 (shown in Fig. 26) and the aircraft registered as N123KK was designated as HAILSTOP 4 (shown in Fig. 27). The C340A aircraft is a pressurized, twin-engine, six cylinder, turbocharged and fuel-injected all weather aircraft. The C340 aircraft also has a weather avoidance radar and GPS navigation system. Complete specifications for the C340 are given in the Appendix. The C340 aircraft both carried 306 20-gram ejectable flares and 24 (or 28, for N457DM) 150-g burn-in-place flares, as well as two wing-tip ice nucleus generators that burn silver iodide seeding solution. Each generator has a capacity of 7 gallons (U.S.), sufficient for continuous seeding for nearly three hours.

Figure 26: HAILSTOP 2, Cessna 340A N457DM, is shown parked on the ramp in Calgary. The solution-burning ice nucleus generator affixed to the near wing-tip is clearly visible. (WMI Photograph by Terry Krauss.)

Although the C340 can seed effectively at cloud top, even in known icing conditions, these arecraft are not as fast, powerful, or efficient as the turboprop aircraft, and so are most efficient and cost-effective when utilised in cloud-base seeding operations. Figure 27: C340A aircraft (N123KK) designated as HAILSTOP 4 is captured here as it overflew the Olds-Didsbury Airport after a tour had been given for visiting insurance company employees.

6.5

Project Operations Centre

All project operations are directed and monitored from the WMI radar installation at the Olds-Didsbury Airport (official designation CEA3). Project offices for radar operation and monitoring, weather forecasting, recordkeeping, and overall administration are located on the airfield just south of the main ramp and aircraft tie-down area. Immediately adjacent to the operations centre offices is the easily recognizable radar tower and radome (Fig. 28).

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Figure 28: The WMI project Operations Centre is located at the Olds-Didsbury Airport, about 70 km (44 miles) north of the Calgary Airport. Pictured here is a tour group from Cooperators Insurance, after a visit to the site on 25 June 2009. The small structure beneath the tower houses the radar transmitter and receiver. (WMI photograph by Terry Krauss.)

The project control room contains the following: radar displays and processing computers, the AirLink flight telemetry system, a computer with Internet connectivity for access to external weather data, VHF radios for direct communication with project aircraft, and telephone. The direction of project aircraft was shared by Jason Goehring, Viktor Makitov, and Matthew Becker (previously shown in Fig. 5). The primary radar display and control was achieved through the Thunderstorm Identification, Tracking, Analysis, and Nowcasting (TITAN) acquisition and processing software (Figs. 29 and 30). TITAN was able to display a number of hail parameters that helped the meteorologists identify hailstorms, and improved the guidance of aircraft to hail growth regions of storms. Plan view TITAN images were sent to the WMI web server at approximately 5 minute intervals. Operating in tandem with TITAN was the Configurable Interactive Data Display (CIDD) radar processing system, set to display a continuous animated 1-hour movie loop of the higher resolution polar coordinate radar data, superimposed on a map of project area terrain. An example of the WMI-NCAR CIDD system used this year is shown in Figure 31.

Figure 29: Meteorologst Matthew Becker in the communications and control room at the Olds-Didsbury project operations centre. From left to right, the computer monitors display: (1) CIDD radar and satellite loops, (2 and 3) TITAN radar imagery and (4) Internet access to real-time meteorological information. Further to the right (not seen) is the AirLink system which acquires, ingests, and processes aircraft position information for display on TITAN and eventual archival. (WMI photograph by Bruce Boe.)

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Figure 30: The TITAN dual-monitor display showing the various radar pictures and satellite photo as available to the operations meteorologist on 29 July 2006. The image on the upper right is sent posted on the Internet every five minutes. Again for the 2009 season, high-speed Internet access was established at their airport offices for the flight crews based in Calgary and Red Deer. Such access ensures real-time awareness of storm evolution and motion, which gives the pilots better knowledge of the storm situation they will encounter when they are launched.

Figure 31: An example of the WMI-NCAR CIDD display, which shows radar reflectivity data and topography. A vertical storm cross-section which shows a clear-air outflow boundary (thunderstorm downdraft) are included to the right.

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6.6

Radar Specifications

The project radar is a C-band (5.4 cm wavelength) weather radar. As mentioned above, it is located at the Olds-Didsbury Airport, at an elevation of 1024 m above sea level. The WMO station identifier is 71359, and the ICAO airport identifier is CEA3. This set was installed in 2003. This radar is very reliable and performed well. Neither of the two outages during 2009 occurred during inclement weather, and so no interruptions in service resulted. The radar is an Enterprise Electronics Corporation WR-100, C-band radar with a 2.44 m (8.0 ft) diameter circular-parabolic antenna. A picture of the radar tower and radome is shown in Fig. 28. The antenna is tower-mounted, and enclosed in a radome to provide safe, all-weather operation. The nominal specifications of the C-band radar are given in the following section. The minimum detectable signal corresponds to approximately 10 dBZ at 100 km range. An uninterruptable power supply (UPS) is used to ensure there are no losses of service in the event of a surge or outage in commercial electrical power. A gasoline-powered generator was used to provide emergency back-up power in the case of a power failure, and was normally started as a precaution whenever heavy weather threatened. Line power was very reliable at the airport during the summer, and there were only a few momentary lapses in line-power during more intense electrical storms. The UPS and emergency generator worked very well. On 16 September 2009 the radar was once again shut down for the season; however, the tower and radar transmitter and display equipment remain in place.

Data Acquisition
The base (lowest) elevation scan is set to 0.8 degrees elevation in order reduce the amount of ground clutter, yet still provide a good view of the low-level precipitation at more distant ranges, especially over Calgary and Red Deer. The radar transmitter is located inside an insulated and air conditioned garden shed built directly under the radar tower (also shown in Fig. 28). The Radar Data Acquisition System computer (RDAS) is programmed to drive the radar antenna to complete a series of 18 elevation steps while rotating through a full 360o for each. Each complete set of observations, termed a volume scan, takes about 4.8 minutes to complete, and provides a full-sky record of all precipitating clouds (except those immediately above the radar). The RDAS computer sends the radar data, still in polar coordinates (azimuth, elevation, and range) to the TITAN computer via a local area network, where the data are transformed to Cartesian coordinates (x, east-west; y, north-south; and z, altitude) by the TITAN computer, which records a permanent archive of all of the scans. The polar data were stored and displayed on the CIDD computer. All of the TITAN volume-scan radar data collected during 2009 have been recorded on CD-ROM. Composite reflectivity image files in gif-format were created in real-time for each volume scan (one every five minutes), and posted to the internet. These were also archived.

Radar Calibrations
The quantitative use of weather radar requires that various parameters of the system be regularly measured, and the set itself, calibrated. The WMI WR100 C-band radar located at the Olds-Didsbury Airport is used to direct seeding aircraft in the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. To ensure accurate radar reflectivities and correct antenna alignment (range, azimuth and elevation), calibration and alignment checks are regularly performed. Assuming that all the terms relating to the electrical components and propagation of the radar beam are constants and if we always assume we are looking at water, a simplified radar equation takes the form (Rinehart 1997):

z = C pr r2

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Thus, calculating radar reflectivity factor z is simply a matter of getting the power from a target of known range (times a constant). The WR-100 parameters and standard calibration values are shown in Table 4. The RDAS radar acquisition software performs digital signal processing to simulate a quadratic response of the receiver output (Terblanche 1996), and uses a reference range of 100 km. Table 4: Radar parameter calibration values for the Alberta WMI EEC WR-100 radar. PARAMETER Pulse Width Pulse Repitition Frequency (PRF) Frequency Wavelength = Speed of Light / Frequency Duty cycle = Pulse Wdith * PRF Minimum detectable signal Nominal Radar Constant for range (in nmi, RDAS-TITAN convention) VALUE 0.000003 256 5.55 5.41 -31.15 -107 -160.96 UNITS Sec Sec
9 -1

MHz (10 cycles per sec) cm (C-band) dimensionless dB dB

The radar was found to be very stable from day-to-day throughout the season. Whenever a radar is modified or repaired, it is important to check and/or recalibrate the set to ensure no significant changes in performance have occurred. Prior to the beginning of the project, the radars pulse package (a major transmitter component) was replaced because slight degradation in stability had been noted at the conclusion of the 2008 project. A recalibration was immediately performed, and no significant changed were noted. In mid-June of 2009, a drive motor in an antenna servo (which turns the antenna) failed. Fortunately, this occurred in a period of no weather, and repairs were made immediately, without any interuption of service. The radar was again recalibrated immediately after; the results of which are provided in Fig. 32. The output power of the transmitter was measured regularly. The RDAS calibration curve was checked for accuracy at the start, mid-season, and again at the end of the season. The calibrations show a change of less than 1 dB between the early calibration and the calibration at the end of season, for the radar reflectivity range between 20 and 50 dBZ. This very minor change in calibration did not affect the identification and tracking of hail producing storms. The radar transmitted power did not vary significantly throughout the period from May 27 to September 16.

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Figure 32: Radar calibration of RDAS digital counts to equivalent radar reflectivity power (dBZ) for the WMI radar at Olds-Didsbury during the 2009 field season. The difference between the 2008 calibrations is less than 1 dB, and not significant. Antenna alignment is also regularly checked, by pointing the antenna at the sun. The position are then cross-referenced to the known position of the sun at that exact time. The pointing accuracy of the system was also verified numerous times by confirming the position of the project aircraft relative to the positions of isolated echoing clouds.

Aircraft Tracking
The project Operations Centre was equipped to receive and record data from each of the aircrafts position telemetry systems. These GPS-based systems display the exact positions of the aircraft, superimposing them on the TITAN radar display to enable the duty meteorologist to accurately direct the seeding aircraft to optimum seeding positions relative to each storm system. The colour-coded aircraft track on the TITAN display allowed unambiguous identification of each project aircraft. The real-time aircraft Global Positioning System (GPS) flight track display of AirLink on 4 July 2009 is shown in Fig. 33.

45

Figure 33: Aircraft flight tracks for all four seeding aircraft and real-time seeding information available from the AirLink telemetry system are shown for the flights of 4 July 2009. In this AirLink plot, HAILSTOP 1 is green, HAILTOP 2 is white, HAILSTOP 3 is cyan (blue), and HAILSTOP 4 is yellow. (WMI graphic.) AirLink also displays where the seeding events take place, but the locations of flare ignitions and wing-tip seeding generators are not displayed on the tracks in Fig. 33 to reduce clutter. The selected aircraft at the time of screen capture was N457DM, HAILSTOP 2 (white track), for which it is shown that the right wingtip generator (Rt. Burn) had been ON for 10 minutes and 13 seconds (00:10:13), and the left for 8 minutes and 57 seconds (00:08:57).

46

7.

SUMMARY OF SEEDING OPERATIONS

A brief summary of each project day that describes the weather and operational activities is given in the Appendix. Flight times and the amounts of seeding are summarized for the season in the Flights and Operations Summary tables in the Appendices.

7.1

Flights

During the 2009 project season there were 81 aircraft flights totaling 109.34 flight hours on 41 days with operations. A total of 30 storms were seeded during 23 seeding flights (57.10 hours) on 18 days on which seeding took place. There were 15 patrol flights (20.50 hours), 20 test flights (17.42 hours), and 23 public relations flights, when aircraft were flown to/from the Operations Centre for tours of the facility by insurance company staff (14.32 hours). The amount of silver-iodide nucleating agent dispensed during the 2009 field season totaled 48.443 kg. This was dispensed in the form of 451 ejectable (cloud-top) flares (9.02 kg seeding agent), 237 burn-inplace flares (35.55 kg seeding agent), and 1,355 minutes of AgI-seeding solution burn (3.873 kg seeding agent). The distribution of take-off and landing times as a function of time of day is shown in Fig. 34. Most of the flights were between noon and 9 pm. The 50% percentile for take-offs is 3 pm and the 50% percentile for landings is approximately 5 pm.

Figure 34: The frequency of occurrence and cumulative distributions of aircraft take-off and landing times for all flights as a function of time (Mountain Daylight) during 2009.

47

The convective storms in Alberta have a strong diurnal cycle associated with the periodicity of daily maximum temperature. In Alberta the temperature usually cools off quickly at sunset, enough to eliminate surface heating as an initiation mechanism (trigger) for deep convection. Occasionally, however, a passing cold-front or upper-level disturbance is strong enough to trigger evening convection; therefore, nocturnal storms cannot be ruled out. This is in stark contrast to the storms and experiences of WMI in North Dakota, U.S.A., and Mendoza, Argentina where nearly half the storms occur after sunset.

7.2

Seeding Amounts

The amount of AgI dispensed on each day of operations in 2009 is shown in Fig. 35. There were no days on which more than 10 kg of seeding material was dispensed, which happened four times during 2008 and 2007, eight days in 2006, and six days during 2003 and 2005. This is very indicative of overall character of the season, which began (on 1 June) as an entension of a period of drought that continued well into the month of July. The most active season in terms of the amount of seeded was 2004, during which 16 days saw the use of 10 kg or more of seeding agent. There were fewer days with storms, fewer storms, and less seeding, and when the storms formed they tended to be marginally severe with modest lifetimes. Nevertheless, the amount of seeding agent per storm was significantly below average compared with other seasons.

Figure 35: Amount of seeding material dispensed per operational day in 2009.

7.3

Comparison of 2009 with Previous Seasons

Table 5 gives a list of the operational statistics for the past fourteen years of the Alberta Hail Suppression Project, many of which are plotted in Figs. 36 and 37. This summer had below average number of aircraft missions and flight hours due in large part to a protracted drought that persisted well into the month of July, and never really broke during the project period, though conditions did become more normal in late summer. The amount of seeding per day was below average, just 2.4 kg, compared to the average of the previous 13 seasons of 6.0 kg per day.

48

The amount of seeding agent use per storm was also below average; the 2009 value of 1.6 kg/storm is well below the 13-season project average of 2.1 kg/storm. Though exceptional, the 2009 value of seeding agent per storm is not unprecedented; lower values were recorded in 1997, 1998, and 1999. The exceptional nature of the 2009 season is perhaps best illustrated by the number of inactive days, as shown in Tables 10, 11, and 12, within Section 8.

Figure 36: The number of days on which seeding was conducted, the mean amount of seeding agent (AgI) expended on those days, and the mean amount of seeding agent expended per storm are shown. Of the more recent project seasons, 2009 was most similar to 2007. In 2008, a fourth aircraft, a Cessna 340A (HAILSTOP 4) was added to the project in Red Deer. The forth aircraft was again deployed in 2009, but on only once did all four aircraft fly, that being on the storms of 45 July 2009. This is yet another indication of the character of the season. The Cessna 340s (HAILSTOP 2 and HAILSTOP 4) are used mainly as cloud base seeding aircraft because they have somewhat less performance than the two turbine aircraft and are equipped with the liquid AgI solution burners. HAILSTOP 1 in Calgary has been a Piper Cheyenne II for all 14 years, and HAILSTOP 2 in Calgary has been a Cessna 340A for all 14 project seasons. HAILSTOP 3 (Red Deer) was a C340 for 4 years (199699), a Cheyenne II in 2000, 2003 and 2005, and a Beach King Air C90 in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. The advantages of the C90 are that it has slightly longer endurance for increased seeding time, and good performance for reaching the far western regions of the target area near Rocky Mountain House in a reasonable amount of time (e.g. <30 min). All aircraft remained serviceable for the entire operational period, and there were no major maintenance issues that compromised seeding.

49

The best seeding coverage consists of seeding a storm simultaneously using two aircraft; one at cloud o base and another at cloud top (at the -10 C altitude) along the upwind side of storm. The Cheyenne II and King Air aircraft have proven themselves as excellent cloud-top seeders. The seeding strategy has been to stagger the launch of the seeding aircraft, and use one aircraft to seed at cloud base and one aircraft at cloud top when storms are immediately upwind or over the highest priority areas. However, if multiple storms threaten three or more areas at the same time, generally only one aircraft is used on each storm, or the aircraft are concentrated on the highest population area around Calgary.

Figure 37: The total number of missions flown, the total flight time, total number of storms seeded, and total amount of seeding agent expended is shown for each of the first 14 project seasons. The 2009 season ranked at or near the bottom in each category, making it, overall, the least active season since the project began in 1996. Of all of the project seasons to date, 2009 was most similar to 2007, in which there were even fewer days with operations (19). This is not to imply that there was no severe weather in 2009, such was not the case.

50

Table 5: Operational Statistics for 1996 to 2009.

Alberta Storm Days with Seeding Aircraft Missions

2009 2008 2007 2006 20 37 26 112 19 76 28 92

2005 27 80

2004 2003 29 105 26 92

2002 27 92

2001 36 109

2000 33 130

1999 39 118

1998 31 96

1997* 1996* Total 38 92 29 71 408 1302

Average 29.1 93.0

Total 109.3 194.7 115.3 190.2 157.9 227.5 163.6 157.4 208.3 265.2 Flight Time (hrs) Number of Storms Seeded Total Seeding Material (kg) AgI/day AgI/hour AgI/Storm Eject Flares BIP flares Acetone (gal)
th

251.3

189.9

188.1

159.1 2577.8

184.1

30

56

41

65

70

90

79

54

98

136

162

153

108

75

1217

86.9

48.4 122.9 99.7

214

159.1 270.9 173.4 124.2 195.0 343.8

212.7

111.1

110.8

163.3 2349.3

167.8

2.4 0.84 1.6 451 237

4.7 1.0 2.2

5.2 0.9 2.4

7.6 1.1 3.3

5.9 1.0 2.3 3770 515 94.2

9.3 1.2 3.0

6.7 1.1 2.2

4.6 0.8 2.3 3108 377 80.3

5.4 0.9 2.0 5225 533

10.4 1.3 2.5 9653 940

5.5 0.8 1.3 4439 690 297.5

3.6 0.6 0.7 2023 496 193.8

2.9 0.6 1.0 2376 356 144.3

5.6 1.0 2.2 3817 54039 542 7745

5.7 0.94 2.07 3860 553 127.8

1648 1622 4929 548 413 77

th

6513 4465 877 518

703 145.4

56.5 113.5

132.7 92.6

140.8 141.3

80.5 1790.4

*June 15 to September 15 during 1996 and 1997.

51

Table 6: Cloud seeding flare and solution usage by aircraft, by season. EJ refers to 20 gram ejectable AgI flares. BIP refers to 150 gram burn-in-place AgI flares. The AgI solution burn rate is 2.5 gallons (U.S.) per hour.

Year

Hailstop 1 Calgary Cheyenne II

FLIGHT hrs FLARES

Hailstop 2 Calgary C340

FLIGHT hrs FLARES SOLUTION

Hailstop 3 Red Deer King Air C90, Cheyenne II, or C340

FLIGHT hrs FLARES and SOLUTION

Hailstop 4 Red Deer C340

FLIGHT hrs FLARES and SOLUTION

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

21.5 250 EJ, 27 BIP 64.5 953 EJ, 88 BIP 40.0 979 EJ, 81 BIP 54.0 3217 EJ, 179 BIP 49.1 2750 EJ, 169 BIP 83.2 5574 EJ, 359 BIP 63.9 3598 EJ, 250 BIP 57.1 1994 EJ, 163 BIP 62.4 3174 EJ, 216 BIP 89.5 4755 EJ, 379 BIP 91.3 3795 EJ, 313 BIP 62.2 1880 EJ, 107 BIP 70.2 1828 EJ, 62 BIP 61.6 2128 EJ, 143 BIP

31.2 0 EJ, 65 BIP, 5.95 hr 44.3 0 EJ, 171 BIP, 26.8 hr 41.2 0 EJ, 155 BIP, 30.8 hr 70.2 72 EJ, 248 BIP, 58.2 hr 44.8 0 EJ, 121 BIP, 37.7 hr 62.2 0 EJ, 196 BIP, 53.1 hr 54.2 0 EJ, 130 BIP, 37.1 hr 49.3 2 EJ, 73 BIP, 32.1 hr 74.8 4 EJ, 215 BIP, 56.3 hr 77.4 164 EJ, 193 BIP, 56.5 hr 81.4 244 EJ, 197 BIP, 59.6 hr 68.4 134 EJ, 199 BIP, 29.2 hr 58.0 264 EJ, 128 BIP, 25.9hr 45.8 895 EJ, 192 BIP, 9.4 hr

24.0 201 EJ, 48 BIP C90 King Air 50.8 695 EJ, 169 BIP C90 King Air 34.1 643 EJ, 177 BIP C90 King Air 66.0 1640 EJ, 276 BIP C90 King Air 63.9 1020 EJ, 225 BIP Cheyenne II 82.1 939 EJ, 322 BIP C90 King Air 45.5 867 EJ, 138 BIP Cheyenne II 51.0 1112 EJ, 141 BIP Cheyenne II 68.1 2093 EJ, 102 BIP Cheyenne II 97.4 4734 EJ, 368 BIP Cheyenne II 78.6 400 EJ, 180 BIP, 59.4 hr C340 59.4 9 EJ, 190 BIP, 48.3 hr C340 60.0 284 EJ, 166 BIP, 31.8 hr C340 51.7 794 EJ, 207 BIP, 22.8 hr C340

62.6 0 EJ, 97 BIP, 16.6 hr 35.1 0 EJ, 120 BIP, 18.6 hrs

52

7.4

Storm Tracks

A map of all hailstorm tracks (determined by radar) during 2009 is shown in Fig. 38. June (green arrows, Fig. 38) was exceedingly slow. Strong high pressure (and drought) dominated the region for most of the month. The first seeding mission was not flown until 15 June 2009, and that was of short duration, only 1.4 hours. Project aircraft did not seed again until 29 June 2009. July was the busiest month, but most storms originated over the Rocky Mountains and were short-lived, weakening as they moved eastward into the plains (red arrows, Fig 38). Almost all of the long-lived 2009 storms occurred in August (blue arrows, Fig 38). Of these, by far the most damaging was a storm complex that originated very late in the day on 2 August. This complex moved to the south-southeast at speeds exceeding 80 km/hour, causing significant dmamage from hail and wind in numerous communities. This complex was not identified early on by project staff, and as a result, was not handled as well as it might have been. This event in particular is examined further in Section 11, Conclusions and Recommendations.

Figure 38: Map of all hailstorm tracks during 2009. (WMI graphic by Jason Goehring.)

53

8.

WEATHER FORECASTING

The daily forecast for the hail project was routinely prepared each morning by one of the meteorologists at the Operations Centre, and presented at the weather briefing telephone conference call at 12 noon. The forecast time period for verification was considered to be 24 hours, spanning the period from 6 AM to 6 AM. This time period is used because convection (thunderstorms) most often develop during daylight hours, usually afternoon, and often persist past midnight before weakening in the early morning hours. This makes a forecast day that begins and ends at 6 AM more meaningful. The primary input data used for the forecast included the following: Regional upper atmosphere analyses at 250 mb, 500 mb, 700 mb. Upper air sounding data from Edmonton or Kelowna ETA model forecast soundings for Calgary, Red Deer, Sundre, and Rocky Mtn. House Public and Aviation Forecasts Severe weather prognostic charts Numerical model forecasts (GEM, ETA/NAM) Satellite imagery Radar images from Environment Canada facilities at Strathmore and Carvel. All of the meteorological data downloaded via the internet during the field season have been stored on CD-ROM and a portable hard-drive for future reference purposes.

8.1

The Convective Day Category (CDC)

The daily weather forecast establishes the Convective Day Category (CDC) that best describes the conditions that are expected for the day. The CDC (Strong 1979) is an index that gives the potential for hailstorm activity and thus seeding operations. A description of the weather conditions for each CDC is given in Table 7. The distinction between the -2 and -1 category is sometimes difficult, since overcast or prolonged rains eventually break up into scattered showers. The maximum vertically-integrated liquid (VIL) pixel values recorded by TITAN were used for forecast verification of hail size in the absence of surface hail reports. Radar VIL values were used within the project area or buffer zones on the north, east, and south sides (not including the mountains or foothills of the western buffer zone). This may have increased the number of declared hail days from the early years, which relied on a human report of hail fall at the surface; however, it is believed to be a more realistic measure of hail. There were a few days when 2 pea size hail was reported and the VIL was < 10 kg/m . These cases were classified as +1 CDC days. Surface observations of hail supersede the radar criterion. The +1 category minimum hail size was assumed to be 5 mm since this is a common minimum size for hail used by numerical modelers, and also the recognized threshold for hail. Smaller ice particles, those less than 5 mm diameter are generally called snow pellets or graupel. Table 7: Description of Convective Day Category (CDC) Index CDC -3 -2 -1 0 +1 Strategy No Seed No Seed No Seed Patrol flights and potential seeding. Seed Description Clear skies, fair weather cumulus, or stratus (with no rain). No deep convection. Towering cumulus, alto-cumulus, alto-stratus, or nimbostratus producing rain for several hours or weak echoes (e.g. virga). Scattered convective rain showers but no threat of hail. No reports of lightning. Convective echoes < 40 dBZ. 2 Thunderstorms (at least one) but no hail. VIL < 10 kg/m within the project area or buffer zones on north, east, and south sides. Thunderstorms with pea or shot sized hail (0.5 to 1.2 cm 2 2 diameter). 10 kg/m < VIL < 20 kg/m

54

+2 +3 +4 +5

Seed Seed Seed Seed

Thunderstorms with grape sized hail (1.3 to 2.0 cm diameter). 2 2 20 kg/m < VIL < 50 kg/m Thunderstorms with walnut sized hail (2.1 to 3.2 cm diameter). 2 2 50 kg/m < VIL < 100 kg/m Thunderstorms with golfball sized hail (3.3 to 5.2 cm diameter). 2 VIL > 100 kg/m Thunderstorms with greater than golfball sized hail (>5.2 cm diameter).

Various meteorological parameters are also forecast in addition to the CDC. These parameters are used in developing a seeding strategy and are passed on to pilots during the weather briefing. The meteorological parameters are recorded each day and archived for future analysis. A summary of the daily meteorological parameters is given in a later section and the full table of parameters is given in an Appendix.

8.2

Coordinated Universal Time

The standard reference time chosen for the project field operations is universal time coordinates (UTC), also known as coordinated universal time (CUT), or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This is the accepted international standard of time for general aviation and meteorological observations, reporting, and communication. In Alberta, UTC is 6 hours ahead of local Mountain Daylight time. For example, 12:00 noon local Alberta time is equal to 18:00 UTC, and 6:00 PM local is equal to 24:00 or 00:00 UTC. This causes some confusion since many of the thunderstorms occurred late in the day and span the 6:00 PM local time, which is midnight or 00:00 hours UTC. The standard convention incorporated by the Alberta project is to report all aircraft, radar, and meteorological times in UTC; however, the summary tables are all organized according to the local calendar storm day with respect to Mountain Daylight Time for convenience.

8.3

Daily Briefings

All project staff participated in a telephone conference briefing session each day at 12:00 noon sharp. Teamwork depends on good communications, and all personnel were required to attend the daily briefing. This briefing session included a debriefing and summary of the previous days operations (if any), discussion of the weather situation, presentation of the weather forecast and operational meteorological statistics, predicted hail threat, cloud base heights and temperatures, upper level winds, storm motion, equipment status reports, and operational plans for the day. After the briefing, crews were put on telephone stand-by or asked to remain at the airport on stand-by. All personnel were equipped with cell telephones to allow quick access and constant communications, day or night.

8.4

Meteorological Statistics

A complete listing of the daily meteorological statistics is given in an Appendix. A summary of the important daily atmospheric parameters used as inputs for the daily forecast of the CDC and threat of hail is given in Table 8. 2009 was a below average summer for large hail both inside and outside the project area. Hail was reported within the project area on 23 days this past summer. Larger than golf ball size hail fell on from just one storm, the long-lived, long-tracked complex during the night of 2-3 August that tracked from the northwest near Rocky Mountain House across almost the entire target area, exiting the southeast corner th st southeast of Calgary. Golfball sized hail fell on two other days, also in August, the 11 , and the 21 . Walnut size hail was reported on three additional days: 12 and 19 July, and 9 August 2009.

55

Data from crop insurance claims provided by Alberta Agriculture Financial Services Corportation indicates that crop damage in 2009 was approximately the historical average, but less than half that recorded in 2008 (see Section 9). Because the Alberta Hail Suppression Program does not attempt to modify storms in non-urban areas, this does not directly reflect program efficacy, but it does provide some indication of the severity of the hail season. A significant fraction of the 2009 losses resulted from the 2-3 August storm, but date-by-date breakout of the 2009 loss data was not provided. Table 8: Summary of daily atmospheric parameters used as inputs for the daily forecast of the CDC during 2009. Parameter Average FCST CDC -0.64 Precip. Water (in) 0.72 0C Level (kft) 11.4 -5C Level (kft) 13.8 -10C Level (kft) 16.4 Cloud Base Height (kft) 9.2 Cloud Base Temp (C) 3.3 Maximum Cloud Top Height (kft) 25.8 Temp. Maximum (C) 21.9 Dew Point (C) 7.5 Conv Temp (C) 22.0 CAPE (J/kg) 309 Total Totals Index 50.9 Lifted Index -0.59 Showalter Index 0.07 Cell Direction (deg) 254 Cell Speed (knots) 20 Storm Direction (deg) 244 Storm Speed (knots) 13.3 Low Level Wind Direction (deg) 2245 Low Level Wind Speed (knots) 13.8 Mid Level Wind Direction (deg) 258 Mid Level Wind Speed (knots) 26.0 High Level Wind Direction (deg) 240 High Level Wind Speed (knots) 46.8 Observed CDC -5.3 All Days (107) StdDev Maximum 1.59 3 0.20 1.22 2.08 16.8 2.26 19.4 2.30 21.8 2.08 13.1 3.93 11.1 7.85 40.0 4.8 30.0 3.4 14.0 7.0 45.3 312 1500 5.4 59.0 2.82 8.9 2.94 10.4 81 355 9.2 40 110 360 6.8 30 81 355 7.5 35 78.3 355 12.1 60 93.4 360 25.4 130 1.76 5 Minimum -3 0.26 5.6 7.2 9.7 3.6 -6.3 10.0 8.0 -2.0 7.0 0 30.6 -4.6 -4.5 10 1 5 1 5 2 5 5 5 5 -3

A summary of the important daily forecast atmospheric parameters on the 23 days on which hail was reported in 2009 is given in Table 9. Not surprisingly, these values represent typical conditions for hail days in Alberta. These statistics help put the Alberta project clouds in context with other hail suppression projects around the world. Furthermore, these values can be used to initialize numerical models for research purposes.

56

Table 9: Summary of daily forecast atmospheric parameters on 23 hail days during 2009. Parameter FCST CDC Precip. Water (in) 0C Level (kft) -5C Level (kft) -10C Level (kft) Cloud Base Height (kft) Cloud Base Temp (C) Maximum Cloud Top Height (kft) Temp. Maximum (C) Dew Point (C) Conv Temp (C) CAPE (J/kg) Total Totals Index Lifted Index Showalter Index Cell Direction (deg) Cell Speed (knots) Storm Direction (deg) Storm Speed (knots) Low Level Wind Direction (deg) Low Level Wind Speed (knots) Mid Level Wind Direction (deg) Mid Level Wind Speed (knots) High Level Wind Direction (deg) High Level Wind Speed (knots) Observed CDC Average 1.00 0.82 11.6 13.8 16.3 9.3 4.7 31 23.6 9.2 22 659 55.2 -3.13 -2.46 263 21 292 14.6 258 14.4 262 28.7 264 52.2 1.78 Hail Days (23) StdDev Maximum 0.8 3 0.15 1.19 1.44 14.4 1.56 16.7 1.68 19.4 1.82 12.5 2.95 11.1 5.8 40.0 3.8 30.0 2.0 13.0 4.2 30.0 331 1500 2.0 58.9 0.89 -1.6 1.04 -0.6 31 300 8.2 40 36 350 7.5 30 43 325 7.7 30 35 320 12.7 50 53 340 33.3 130 1.24 5 Minimum -1 0.59 9.1 10.7 12.9 5.4 -0.2 19.0 18.0 5.0 15.0 270 51.2 -4.6 -4.5 185 5 185 5 155 5 155 10 110 5 1

The project season was the slowest on record. It began with cool, dry weather, and little precipitation of any kind. The first seeding mission was not flown until 14 June, and the second on 29 June. The spring of 2009 was also dry, which made growing conditions very difficult. Conditions began to moderate in July, normally the worst month for hail and the busiest for the project, but did not really become more normal until August. There was thunder reported within the project area on 63 days in 2009 compared to 75 days last summer. The number of hail days and days with large hail (greater than walnut size) was also well below average.

8.5

Forecasting Performance

The following tables (10-12) indicate the forecasting performance for the summer season with respect to the forecast and observed weather conditions as defined by the Convective Day Category or CDC within the project area. A CDC greater than zero indicates that hail was observed somewhere within the target area or buffer (see again Fig. 2). The forecasts were verified by the weather observations as reported by Environment Canada, crop insurance reports received from the Agriculture Financial Services Corp. in Lacombe, and also by public reports of hail in the press, radio, and television, as well as by the reports from project personnel. The Vertical Integrated Liquid (VIL) radar parameter was also used as a verification tool, but secondary to actual hail reports.

57

Referring to Table 10: Hail fell within the project area on 23 of 107 days (21%), leaving 84 days without hail (79%). The forecast was correct in forecasting no-hail on 73 of 84 observed no-hail days (79%) and correctly forecast hail days on 19 of 23 days (83%). The forecast failed to correctly forecast hail on 4 of the 23 hail days (17%) and incorrectly forecast hail (false alarms) on 11 of the 84 days when no-hail was observed (13%). However, on 11 of the 30 days hail had been forecast, hail did not fall (37%). Of the 4 bust foreacsts (hailed occurred but was not forecast) 2 forecasts were on days with pea size hail, which is very difficult to forecast; especially when the atmosphere is very cold (as it was in June) and almost every thunderstorm is capable of producing pea size hail. The other 2 bust forecasts were on a day with walnut-sized hail, and on a day with golf-ball-sized hail. On both of these days, thunderstorms were forecast. Overall the WMI meteorologists did a very good job with forecasting large hail this season. Table 10: The observed versus forecast days with and without hail for the summer of 2009.

Observed Days No Hail Hail FCST Days No Hail FCST Days Hail Totals 73 [68%] 11 [10%] 84 [79%] 4 [4%] 19 [18%] 23 [21%]

Totals 77 [72%] 30 [28%] 107 [100%]

The exact forecast weather type (CDC) was observed on 63 of 107 days or 59% of the time (Table 11). The forecast was correct to within one CDC category on 91 days or 85% of the time. Unfortunately, there were 4 days when hail fell and hail was not forecast, although thunderstorms were forecast on the 3 of those days, and both days with the larger hail. Overall the WMI forecasters and Hailcast displayed considerable skill in forecasting large hail in 2009. If there was a surprise storm during 2009, it was the complex that moved through the target on the night of 2-3 August. While thunderstorms were forecast that day, large hail was not anticipated. Several cells were seeded in the afternoon and evening of 2 August, but project personnel did not realize that the fastmoving late night storms were moving toward the target area until they were in the buffer zone. This is discussed further in Section 11.

58

Table 11: Table of Forecast versus Observed CDC daily values for 2009.

-3 -3 -2 -1 0 Forecast
18 3

-2
1 5 2 2

-1
1 1 7 1

Observed CDC 0 1 2
2 2 8 20 7 2 1 1 12 1 2

5
22 11 18

1 1 1 1 1

26 24 5 1 0 0

CDC

1 2 3 4 5

22

11

10

41

15

107

Percent correct exact CDC category = 63/107 = 59% Percent correct within one CDC category = 91/107 = 85% Number of times no-hail observed when no-hail was forecast = 73/77 (95%) Number of times hail observed when hail forecast = 19/30 (63%) Percentage Correct for Hail & No Hail forecasts = 92/107 (86%) Bust forecast: i.e. hail observed when no hail was forecast = 4/78 (5%) False alarm: i.e. hail forecast and none observed = 11/30 (37%) The breakdown of CDC values for each of the past 14 seasons is shown in Table 12. This year had above average number of no-hail days, though a record number of thunderstorm days without hail (41). In general, Alberta had a dry summer, with infrequent thunderstorms, though some tended to be severe and produced damaging hail, especially late in the season. August was by far the most active month, not July, which is the norm.

59

Table 12: Annual Summary of Convective Day Categories (CDC) -3 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Totals Average Max Min 27 7 14 21 13 20 27 24 11 13 19 15 15 22 248 17.7 27 7 -2 21 19 24 18 21 4 8 7 4 13 14 17 7 11 188 13.4 24 4 -1 12 6 2 8 8 19 20 20 28 22 15 15 10 10 195 13.9 28 2 Observed CDC 0 1 2 11 28 29 24 26 18 16 28 29 28 24 26 34 41 362 25.9 41 11 5 19 23 22 18 19 15 8 15 17 19 17 17 15 229 16.4 23 5 12 11 8 10 9 18 17 12 11 9 5 8 15 2 147 10.5 18 5 3 3 3 2 2 2 5 3 2 3 1 6 5 2 3 42 3.0 6 1 4 1 0 4 1 9 4 1 5 5 2 3 2 6 2 45 3.2 9 0 5 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 14 1.0 2 0 Totals 93 93 107 107 107 107 107 107 107 107 107 107 107 107 1470

8.6

The Hailcast Model

The HAILCAST model (Brimelow 1999, Brimelow et al. 2006) continued to be used in 2009 to objectively forecast the maximum hail size over the project area. HAILCAST consists of two components, namely a steady-state one-dimensional cloud model and a 1-dimensional, time dependent hail model with detailed microphysics. The reader is referred to Brimelow (1999) for a detailed explanation of the model. The ETA prognostic numerical model soundings for Red Deer and Calgary were downloaded daily from the Storm Machine website. A decision tree scheme was used to determine whether or not the soundings should be used to initialize the model. The decision tree is based on the work of Mills and Colquhoun (1998). The decision tree logic was described in detail in the 2003 final report. Basically, the Hailcast model was not run if the atmospheric profile showed significant inhibition at 700 mb (approximately 10 kft) o or warming more than 1 C aloft during the day, for hail is not thought probable under such conditions.

60

9.

CLIMATE PERSPECTIVES

The 2009 season began with a dry spring, and a dry June. The tide began to turn in July, but only for the southern portion of the province. The improvement continued through the first few weeks of August, enough so that much of the province south of Red Deer received normal or above normal precipitation. Areas east of Calgary received significantly above normal rainfall, but because August isnt normally a really wet month, it wasnt enough to erase the deficit established during the spring and early summer. The daily and accumulated rainfall for Calgary and Red Deer from February 2009 to January 2010 are shown in Figures 39 and 40 respectively. While Calgary received occasional showers/flurries during March, April, and May 2009, Red Deer did not fare as well. However, neither locale normaly receives much precipitation until late May and June, when convective clouds typically bring considerable moisture to the region. What precipitation fell was sufficient to keep Calgary near normal until mid-May, but Red Deer fell below normal early in May, and remained so for the rest of the year. Thought precipitation increased in July and August, the defecit was not ever made up, and both stations remained below normal throughout the project period, which ended 15 September 2009. At both stations, almost no precipitation was received after the last storms were seeded on 22 August until December! The lack of summer rain left Calgary and Red Deer below average precipitation for the year by 55 and 70 mm (-14% and -17%), respectively.

Figure 39: Daily and accumulated rainfall for Calgary from February 2009 to January 2010.

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Figure 40: Daily and accumulated rainfall for Red Deer from February 2009 to January 2010. The summer precipitation patterns through the province are well-illustrated by Figs. 41-44. June remained dry, well below normal in most locations (Fig. 41). Only three seeding opportunities were realized during th th th the month, the first on the 14 , and the last two on the 29 and 30 . July, normally the businest month of the project, saw only 11 seeding missionsbut it wasnt for lack of effort; flights were conducted on seven other days, but the clouds just werent vigorous enough to warrant seeding. The weather pattern was changing, though, and precipitation in the southern portions of the province, from about Calgary south, received significantly above normal rainfall for the month (Fig. 42). The moisture pushed even further north during August, making it almost as busy as July, with 9 seeding missions and another three patrol flights. Above normal rainfall was received over most of the province south of Red Deer (Fig. 43). Previous research (Krauss and Santos 2004) indicated that the cloud seeding increases the rainfall; therefore, the increased rainfall around Calgary, compared with the surrounding area, is consistent with our previous findings.

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Figure 41: Precipitation (left) and departures from normal (right) during the month of June 2009 in the Province of Alberta.

Figure 42: Precipitation (left) and departures from normal (right) during the month of July 2009 in the Province of Alberta.

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Figure 43: Precipitation (left) and departures from normal (right) during the month of August 2009 in the Province of Alberta.

Figure 44: The recorded precipitation for the months of September and October 2009, as provided by Alberta Environment. The last project seeding mission was flown on 22 August 2009, and the project season ended on 15 September.

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10.

ALBERTA CROP HAIL INSURANCE RESULTS

Figure 49 shows the annual Loss-to-Risk ratios, and Loss-Ratios for the Province of Alberta as determined by the straight hail crop insurance statistics collected by the Alberta Financial Services Corp. in Lacombe, Alberta. These statistics are for the entire province of Alberta.

Figure 45: Alberta Financial Services Corp. straight hail insurance loss-to-risk ratio and loss-ratio statistics for the entire Province of Alberta from 1978 to 2009.

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Figure 46: Alberta Financial Services Corp. straight hail insurance loss-to-risk ratio trend analysis from 1978 to 2009 for the entire Province of Alberta, separating the periods into before WMI seeding prior to 1996 and after WMI seeding from 1996 to 2009. The average loss-to-risk ratio for the period 1978 to 1995 (before WMI seeding) is 4.4% and the average for the period 1996 to 2009 (with WMI seeding) is also about 4.4%. A polynomial trend analysis for the two periods is shown in Fig. 46. Eight of the first ten years with WMI seeding (1996-2005 inclusive) had below-average hail damage. The hail damage during 2000 and 2004 appeared to be spikes, with aboveaverage hail damage. While the 3 years from 2008 through 2008 saw significant increases in crop hail damage, 2009 saw a decrease and a loss-to-risk ratio of 3.8%. There can be many reasons for the changes in addition to the seeding program, however. The crop hail insurance data are helpful, in that they provide an indication of hail damage on the whole within the province. It should be noted that in the absence of strong winds property hail damage typically begins with hail or 2 or 2.5 cm diameter, while crops may be suceptible to damge from much smaller sizes. When wind is involved (as was the case with the 2-3 August 2009 storm), significant property damage and crop damage results even from relatively small hailstones, sometimes even those less that 1 cm diameter. Several incontrovertible facts remain: The project area still has the highest average hail damage in the Province and can still lay claim to the unsought-after moniker Hail Alley. There is an increasing trend in hail damage for the last seven years, and season-to-season variability is greater within the target area. Population, and therefore risk, continues to increase in much of the province, especially from Calgary north to Red Deer, and also all around the City of Calgary itself. As urban sprawl continues to nudge the boundaries of Calgary in all directions, it is increasingly important to protect this area from the ravages of hail as best as is humanly possible.

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11.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A formal statistical evaluation of the hail suppression program is still not possible without acquiring comprehensive, detailed, high-resolution property insurance claim data. Preliminary assessments from unofficial reports within the insurance industry indicate that the program has been a financial success but this remains unverified. While some crop-hail statistics are available, these data cannot really be used as an indication of program efficacy because only those storms threatening urban areas are ever seeded. In recent years there has been a trend of increasing hail in much of Alberta, as indicated by the crop-hail loss statistics. This trend suggests that any reduction in property insurance payouts is not due to changing climate, since the increase in storm activity is well documented. The 2009 season was an exception experienced regionally; a similar hail-suppression program in the State of North Dakota flew the least number of missions since that program began in its present form in 1974. The 2009 field operations overall ran quite smoothly. The flight crews were all very familiar with hail suppression operations, and many had previous Alberta Project experience. There was a notable change in the WMI project leadership this season, however. Since the program inception in 1996, WMI operations had been led by Red Deer native Dr. Terry Krauss. In April 2009, Dr. Krauss role was shifted to other responsibilities within Weather Modifications operations. Project leadership then shifted to WMI Director of Meteorology, Bruce Boe, and WMI Vice President of Operations, Hans Ahlness. Both Ahlness and Boe have themselves long histories with weather modification and hail suppression operations. Ahlness has spent much of his 30+-year career in weather modification working on an operational hail suppression program in the State of North Dakota. Boe began working in weather modification research in 1974, became a field meteorologist for the North Dakota program in 1982, and then the Director of that program in 1988, where he continued to serve for 13 seasons. The role of WMI Vice President James Sweeney as primary liaison to the ASWMS remained unchanged, continuing uninterrupted since the programs inception in 1996. Ahlness and Boe have also been familiar with the Alberta operation throughout that time. Thus, the change in leadership resulted in no loss of experience or program knowledge. For his part, Dr. Krauss assisted in the start-up of the 2009 project, and was himself involved in several of the tours provided to employees of some of the project-sponsoring insurance companies. The 2009 project operational meteorological staff remained a strong, talented cadre. Field operations were led by Jason Goehring, who conducted Alberta operations for his fifth season. He was ably assisted by Dr. Viktor Makitov, who spent his fourth summer in Alberta on the project. The third meteorologist was new to the project, but not to hail suppression. Matthew Becker had three seasons experience working on the North Dakota hail suppression program as a field meteorologist, operating radar and directing seeding aircraft, before coming to Alberta. During the evening of August 2 a late-night storm was not detected in a timely manner. When detected, the storm was inside the project buffer zone. Though an aircraft was launched as soon as the threat was recognized, the storm complex proceeded to track to the south-southeast at about 80 km per hour on a diagonal path across the heart of the target area, from Rocky Mountain House all the way to south of Strathmore. This was an unusual storm in its time of day (see Fig. 34) and its very fast movement. Storms typically develop much earlier in the day, and propagate at perhaps half that speed. Though this damaging storm was seeded, eventually by two aircraft, the effort was less than ideal. Much of the off season preparation for the 2010 project has been focused on how to prevent such delays from being repeated. With this in mind, the following actions are being implemented for the 2010 project: To ensure continuous monitoring of the project radar for the presence of convective clouds, the following are being implemented: o Re-allocation of project meteorologist duty time to ensure that the radar is monitored at all times, including late-nights and early mornings. Late-night convection occurs only infrequently in Alberta but the possibility can never be dismissed. o Better ways to improve real-time monitoring of all Environment Canada warnings and severe weather statements are being developed and implemented.
nd

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WMI is again exploring the feasibilty of establishing of a radar-based automated alert system that would activate whenever a convective cell is identified by the TITAN radar software. This was previously explored but proved problematic because late-night ground returns, especially from the Rocky Mountains, often become strong enough to be identified as cells. However, there may now be a better way to do this and it is being readdressed.

Protocols that establish when HAILSTOP aircraft are moved from telephone standby to airport standby have been revised to ensure a heighten readiness and further reduce response times. Protocols that establish when aircraft are launched on patrol flights (flight before actual seeding criteria have been reached) have likewise been revised to ensure aircraft are on station when needed, and that timely aircraft launches occur prior to the development of severe weather (hailstorms) whenever possible. This will sometimes mean flight prior to the development of thunderstorm echoes, especially when the atmosphere is known to be dangerously unstable. The times of all aircraft launch requests made by the project meteorologists to flight crews will henceforth be included in the radar operators log. It has been 14 years since the program started. There continue to be many new people in the insurance industry in central Alberta who are not familiar with the history of the program and details of the current cloud seeding project. Five successful information seminars were given at the Olds operations centre for the staff of several insurers this past summer. WMI would be pleased to offer such tours/seminars for staff from all sponsoring companies, and encourages other companies to consider this. It is recommended that information seminars be given (perhaps for continuing education units) as part of the Alberta Insurance Council accreditation program. The intent of such a training course would be to inform the broader insurance industry about the background, organization, and methodology of the cloud seeding project, and also about hail itself, so that support for the program can continue based on current and accurate information. As of December 2009, WMI had agreed to send Boe to Alberta for the week of 26 April 2010, to present such seminars to audiences in Calgary, Red Deer, and Lethbridge. As always, there continues to be a need for more detailed property damage data in order to assess the effectiveness of the seeding program. Several of the larger insurance companies have been contacted in the past and detailed property damage data requested. The intent is would be to conduct an anonymous assessment of trends in the loss-to-risk ratios of property damage so that insight into the financial effectiveness of the program may be determined. To date, all major companies continue to view their data as proprietary, and for that reason have declined to fulfill the requests.

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12.

REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READING

Abshaev, M. T., 1999: Evolution of seeded and non seeded hailstorms. Proc. Seventh WMO Scientific Conf. On Wea. Modification. WMP Report No. 31, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 407-410. Alberta Research Council, 1985: Atmospheric Sciences - Field Program 1985. R. Deibert (editor), Alberta Research Council, Edmonton, 70pp. Alberta Research Council, 1986: Weather Modification in Alberta: Research and Operations 1980-85. ARC report, Edmonton. 18pp. Amburn S. and P. Wolf, 1997: VIL Density as a Hail Indicator. Weather and Forecasting, 12, 473-478. Barge, B.L., and F. Bergwall, 1976: Fine scale structure of convective storms associated with hail production. Rep. 76-2 (2 Vols.), Atmos. Sci. Div., Alberta Research Council, Edmonton. Battan, L. J., 1973: Radar Observation of the Atmosphere. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 324 pp. [Reprinted by: TechBooks, 2600 Seskey Glen Court, Herndon, VA 22071] Bennett, S.P., 1990: A Summary of Weather Modification Activities Reported in the United States During 1989. US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Silver Spring, MD, 23 pp. Benoit, R., J M. Desgagn, P. Pellerin, S. Pellerin, Y. Chartier, and S. Desjardins, 1997: The Canadian MC2: A semi-Lagrangian, semi-implicit wideband atmospheric model suited for finescale process studies and simulation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 125, 2382-2415. Breidenbach, J.P., D.H. Kitzmiller, and R.E. Saffle, 1993: Joint relationships between severe local storms th occurrence and radar-derived and environmental variables. Preprints, 13 Conference on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Vienna, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 588-591. Brimelow, J., 1999: The HAILCAST model in Alberta. M.Sc. Thesis, Univ. Alberta, Edmonton. Brimelow, J.C., and G.W. Reuter, 2001: A radar-based methodology for preparing a severe weather climatology in central Alberta. University of Alberta, 17 pp. Brimelow, J.C, G.W. Reuter, R. Goodson, and T.W. Krauss, 2006: Spatial Forecasts of Maximum Hail Size using Prognostic Model Soundings and HAILCAST, Weather and Forecasting, Vol. 21, No. 2, 206-219. Browning, K. A., 1977: The structure and mechanisms of hailstorms. Hail: A Review of Hail Science and Hail Suppression. Meteor. Monograph., 16, 38, 1-43. Charak, M.T., 1978: Preliminary Analysis of Reported Weather Modification Activities in the US for 1976 and 1977. J. Weather Modification, 10, 165. Charlton, R. B., B. M. Kachman, and L. Wojtiw, 1995: Urban hailstorms: A view from Alberta. Natural Hazards, 12, 29-75. Chisholm, A. J., 1970: Alberta hailstorms: A radar study and model. Ph.D. Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, 287pp. Chisholm, A. J., and J. H. Renick, 1972: The kinematics of multicell and supercell Alberta hailstorms, Alberta Hail Studies, 1972. Research Council of Alberta Rep. 72-2, 24-31. Cohard, J.-M. and J.-P. Pinty, 2000a: A comprehensive two-moment warm microphysical bulk scheme. I: Description and tests. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 126, 1815-1842. Cooper, W. A., and J. Marwitz, 1980: Winter storms over the San Juan mountains. Part III: Seeding potential. J. Appl. Met., 19, 942-949. DeMott, P.J., W.G. Finnegan and L.O. Grant, 1983: An application of chemical kinetic theory and methodology to characterize the ice nucleating properties of aerosols used in weather modification. J. Clim. Appl. Meteor., 22, 1190-1203. DeMott, P.J., 1987: Report to the Weather Modification Group on tests of the ice nucleating ability of aerosols produced from the TB-1 formulation AgI pyrotechnic. Dept. Atmos. Sci., Colorado State Univ., Report, Fort Collins, Co.11pp. DeMott, P.J., 1990: Report to INTERA Technologies Ltd. on Tests of the Ice Nucleating Ability of WMG TB-1 Formulation Pyrotechnics. Dept. Atmos. Sci., Colorado State Univ., Report, Fort Collins, Co. DeMott, P.J., 1995: Report to the Weather Modification Group on tests of the ice nucleating ability of aerosols produced from the WMG-1 formulation AgI pyrotechnic. Dept. Atmos. Sci., Colorado State Univ., Report, Fort Collins, Co.11pp.

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DeMott, P.J., 1999: Report to the Weather Modification Incorporated on tests of the ice nucleating ability of aerosols produced by new formulation pyrotechnics March 1999. Dept. Atmos. Sci., Colorado State Univ., Report, Fort Collins, Co.10pp. Dennis, A.S., 1980: Weather Modification by Cloud Seeding. Academic Press, New York. 267 pp. Dennis, A.S., C.A. Schock, and A. Koscielski, 1970: Characteristics of hailstorms of Western South Dakota. J. Appl. Meteor., 9, 127-135. Dixon, Michael, and Gerry Wiener, 1993: TITAN: Thunderstorm Identification, Tracking, Analysis, and Nowcasting - A Radar-based Methodology. J. Atmos. and Oceanic Technol., 10, 6, 785-797. English, M., 1986: The testing of hail suppression hypotheses by the Alberta Hail Project. Preprints, 10th Conf. Weather Modification, Arlington, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 72-76. English, M., and T.W. Krauss, 1986: Results from an Alberta hailstorm seeding experiment. Presented 1st Intl. Cloud Modeling Workshop/Conf., Isree, FRG, July 1985, 79-84. Environment Canada 1987. Climate Atlas of Canada, Map Series 3, Pressure, Humidity, Cloud, Visibility, and Days with Thunderstorms, Hail, Smoke and Haze, Fog, Freezing Precipitation, Blowing Snow, Frost, Snow on the Ground, Ministry of Supply and Services, Cat. No. EN56-63:3-1986. Environment Canada El Nino website - http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/education/elnino/index_e.cfm Etkin, D., and S. E. Brun, 1999: A note on Canadas hail climatology: 1977-1993. Int. J. Climatol. 19: 13571373. Ferrier, B.S., 1994: A two-moment multiple-phase four-class bulk ice scheme. Part I: Description. J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 249-280. Ferrier, B.S., W.-K. Tau and J. Simpson, 1995: A double-moment multiple-phase four-class bulk ice scheme. Part II: Simulations of convective storms in different large-scale environments and comparisons with other bulk parameterizations. J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 1001-1033. Foote, G. B., and C. A. Knight, 1979: Results of a randomized hail suppression experiment in northeast Colorado. Part I. Design and conduct of the experiment. J. Appl. Meteor., 18, 1526-1537. Foote, G.B., 1984: The study of hail growth utilizing observed storm conditions. J. Climate. Appl. Meteor.,23,84-101. Foote, G.B., 1985: Aspects of cumulonimbus classification relevant to the hail problem. J. Rech. Atmos., 19, 61--74. Foote, G.B., and J.C. Fankhauser, 1973: Airflow and moisture budget beneath a northeast Colorado hailstorm. J. Appl. Meteor., 12, 1330-1353. th Foote, G.B., T.W. Krauss, and V. Makitov, 2005: Hail metrics using conventional radar. Proceedings: 16 Conf. On Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification, Amer. Meteor. Soc., Boston. Garvey, D.M., 1975: Testing of cloud seeding materials at the Cloud Simulation and Aerosol Laboratory, 1971-1973. J. Appl. Meteor., 14,883-890. Glossary of Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1959. Grandia, K.L., D.S. Davison and J.H. Renick, 1979: On the dispersion of silver iodide in Alberta hailstorms. Proceedings: 7th Conf. on inadvertent and planned weather modification, Amer. Meteor. Soc., Banff.56-57. Harris, E.R., 1981: Sierra Cooperative Pilot Project: Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, 196 pp. Howell, W.E., 1977: Environmental impacts of precipitation management: Results and inferences from Project Skywater. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., Vol. 58, 488-501. Humphries, R.G., M. English, and J. Renick, 1987: Weather Modification in Alberta., J. Weather Modification, 19, 13-24. Insurance Bureau of Canada, 2001: Facts of the General Insurance Industry of Canada. Insurance Bureau of Canada, Toronto. 44 pp. Kain, J.S., and J.M. Fritsch, 1993: Convective parameterization for mesoscale models: The Kain-Fritsch scheme. The Representation of Cumulus Convection in Numerical Models, Meteo. Monogr., No. 46, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 165-170. Kitzmiller, D. H., and J. P. Breidenbach, 1995: Detection of Severe Local Storm Phenomena by Automated Interpretation of Radar and Storm Environment, Techniques Development Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD, NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS TDL 82. (33 pages) Kitzmiller, D.H., W.E. McGovern, and R.E Saffle, 1995: The WSR-88D severe weather algorithm. Wea. Forecasting, 10, 141-159. Kong, F. and M.K. Yau, 1997: An explicit approach to microphysics in MC2. Atm. Ocean. 33, 257-291. Krauss, T.W. 1981. Precipitation Processes in the New Growth Zone of Alberta Hailstorms Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, 296 pp.
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Krauss, T.W., 1989: An assessment of seeding rate. Greek National Hail Suppression Program 1988 Annual Report. Edited by Rudolph et al., INTERA Report M88-490, Calgary, 5.2 to 5.4. Krauss, T.W., 1998: Radar responses to seeding of hailstorms in Alberta. 14th Conf. Wea. Mod., AMS, Everett, WA, 632-635. Krauss, T.W., R.T. Bruintjes, and H. Martinez, 2000: A new hail suppression project using aircraft seeding in Argentina. J. Weather Mod., Vol. 32, 1, 73 - 80. Krauss, T.W., and J.D. Marwitz, 1984: Precipitation processes within an Alberta supercell hailstorm. J. Atmos. Sci., 41, 1025-1034. Krauss, T.W. and V. Makitov, 2001: An overview of the Mendoza hail suppression program 2000. Proceedings, 15th Conf. Inadvertent and Planned Weather Modification, Amer. Meteor. Soc., Albuquerque, New Mexico. Krauss, T. W., and J. Renick, 1997: The new Alberta hail suppression project. J. Weather Mod., Vol. 29, 1, 100 - 105. Krauss, T.W., R.E. Rinehart, J.L. Kollegger, and S.A. Kozak, 1998: VIL as a predictor for hail in Alberta. Preprints, 14th Conference on Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification, Everett, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 589-592. Krauss, T.W., and J.R. Santos, 2004: Exploratory analysis of the effect of hail suppression operations on precipitation in Alberta. Atmospheric Research, Vol. 71, 35-50. Krauss, T.W., W.Shaw, A.A.Sinkevich, V.S.Makitov, 2006: Cloud seeding in India and physical and statistical assessment of the results. Journal of Meteorology and Hydrology, Russia, V7, 24-33. Landscheidt, T., 1999: Solar activity a dominant factor in climate dynamics, http://www.vision.net.au/~daly/solar/solar.htm Landscheidt, T. 1999:Trends in pacific decadal oscillation subjected to solar forcing, http://www.vision.net.au/~daly/theodor/pdotrend.htm Landscheidt, T. 1999: Solar activity controls El Nino and La Nina, http://www.vision.net.au/~daly/sunenso/sun-enso.htm Makitov, V., 1999: Organization and main results of the hail suppression program in the northern area of the province of Mendoza, Argentina. J. Weather Modification, 31, 76-86. Marwitz, J.D., 1972a: The structure and motion of severe hailstorms. Part I: Supercell storms. J. Appl. Meteor., 11, 166-179. Marwitz, J.D., 1972b: The structure and motion of severe hailstorms. Part II: Multicell storms. J. Appl. Meteor., 11, 180-188. Marwitz, J.D., 1972c: The structure and motion of severe hailstorms. Part III: Severely sheared storms. J. Appl. Meteor., 11, 166-179. Marwitz, J.D., 1972d: Precipitation efficiency of thunderstorms on the High Plains. J. Rech. Atmos., 6, 367-370. Mather, G. K., M. J. Dixon, J. M. DeJager, 1996: Assessing the potential for rain augmentation The Nelspruit randomized convective cloud seeding experiment. J. Appl. Meteor., 35, 1465-1482. Meyers, M.P., R.L. Walko, J.Y. Harrington and W.R. Cotton, 1997: New RAMS cloud microphysics. Part II: The two-moment scheme. Atmos. Res., 45, 3-39. Milbrandt, J.A. and M.K. Yau, 2003: Analysis of the role of the shape parameter in bulk microphysics parameterizations and a proposed triple-moment approach. Submitted to J. Atmos. Sci. Miller, R., 1972: Notes on Analysis and Severe-Storm Forecasting Procedures of the Air Force Global Weather Central. Air Weather Service Technical Report 200 (Rev), United States Air Force, Chapters 5 and 7. Mullayarov, V. A., V.I. Kozlov, and R.R. Karimov, 2001.:Relation of thunderstorm activity to cosmic ray variations. In: ISCS 2001 Abstracts. Solar Variability, Climate and Space Weather. NOAA PDO website - http://ww2.wrh.noaa.gov/climate_info/PDO_page.htm Ramanathan, V., B.R. Barkstrom, and E.F. Harrison, 1989: Climate and the earths radiation budge. Physics Today, 22. Rasmussen, E.N., and D. O. Blanchard, 1998: A baseline climatology of sounding-derived supercell and tornado forecast parameters. Weather and Forecasting, 13, 1148-1164. Renick, J., 1975: The Alberta Hail Project: Update 1975. J. of Weather Mod., 7, no. 2, 1-6. Rinehart, R. E., 1997: Radar for Meteorologists. 3rd Edition, Rinehart Publications, P.O. Box 6124, Grand Forks, ND. 58206-6124. 428 pp. Rosenfeld, D., W. Woodley, T.W. Krauss, V. Makitov, 2006: Aircraft Microphysical Documentations from Cloud Base to Anvils of Hailstorm Feeder Clouds in Argentina. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 45, No. 9, pp 12611281.
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Ross, C., and P. Woloshyn, 1986: Effect of Hail and Drought on Major Crops in Alberta. Alberta Agriculture Report. Edmonton. 34pp. Rudolph, R., and C. Ganniaris-Papageorgiou, 1991: Effects of cloud seeding on hail insurance statistics in northern Greece. Paper presented at the 2nd Conf. on Hail Suppression. Yugoslavia. Rudolph, R.C., C.M. Sachiw, and G.T. riley, 1994: Statistical evaluation of the 1984-88 seeding experiment in northern Greece. J. Weather Modification, 26, 53-60. Schnur, R., T. W. Krauss, F. Joe Eley, and D. Lettenmaier, 1997: Spatiotemporal analysis of radarestimated precipitation during the BOREAS Summer 1994 Field Campaigns. J. of Geophysical Research, vol. 102, D24, 29,417-29,427. Shabbar, A., 1997: El Nino. Environment Canadas web page. Downsview, Ont. Sheremata, D, 1998: Hail Busters: Shooting for the clouds. Canadian Geographic, Vol. 118, No. 5, 6670. Smith, P.L., L.R. Johnson, D.L. Priegnitz, B.A. Boe, and P.W. Mielke Jr., 1997: An exploratory analysis of crop hail insurance data for evidence of cloud seeding effects in North Dakota. J. Applied Meteor., 36, 463-473. Smith, P. L., and L. R. Lemon, 1997, Characteristics of Radar Echoes from Hailstorms. 31st CMOS Congress, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, pp 66. Stanley-Jones, M., 1996: Radar systems, Theoretical & Practical Measurement Procedures, unpublished manuscript, 112 pp. Strong, G. S., 1979: A convective forecast index as an aid in hail suppression evaluation. Proceedings, 7th Conf. Inadvertent and Planned Weather Modification, Amer. Meteor. Soc., Banff, 2pp. Strong, G. S., and W. D. Wilson, 1983: The Synoptic Index of Convection, Part I: Evaluation of the SingleValued Index, 1978-82. 17th Annual CMOS Congress, Banff. Atmos. Sci. Dept., Alberta Research Council, Red Deer. 29-37. Summers, P. W., and L. Wojtiw, 1971: The economic impact of hail damage in Alberta, Canada and its dependence on various hailfall parameters. Preprints, Seventh Conf. of Severe Local Storms, Kansas City, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 158-163. Svensmark, H. & Friis-Christensen, E.: Variation of cosmic ray flux and global cloud coverage a missing link in solarclimate relationships. J. Atm. Sol.Terr. Phys. 59 (1997), 1225. Terblanche, D. E., 1996: A simple digital signal processing method to simulate linear and quadratic responses from a radars logarithmic receiver. J. Atmos. And Oceanic Tech., 13, 533-538. University of Washington PDO website - http://tao.atmos.washington.edu/pdo/ Waldvogel, A., B. Federer, and P. Grimm, 1979: Criteria for the detection of hail cells. J. Appl. Meteor., 25, 1521-1525. Winston H. A., and L. J. Ruthi, 1986: Evaluation of RADAPII Severe Storm Detection Algorithms. AMS Bulletin, VOL 67, 145-150. Ziegler, C.L., 1985: Retrieval of thermal and microphysical variables in observed convective storms. Part 1: Model development and preliminary testing. J. Atmos. Sci., 42, 1497-1509.

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APPENDICES
A. B. C. D. E. Organization Chart Daily Weather and Activities Summary Table Aircraft Operations Summary Table Flight Summary Table Forms
Weather Forecast Worksheet WMI Radar Observer Log WMI Seeding Aircraft Flight Log F.

Specifications for Piper Cheyenne II Aircraft Specifications for Cessna C-340 Aircraft Specifications for Beechcraft King-Air C90 Aircraft Ground School Agenda Airborne Seeding Solution Daily Meteorological Forecast Statistics Project Personnel and Telephone List

G. H. I. J. K. L.

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A.

ORGANIZATION CHART
Alberta Severe Weather Management Society

Board of Directors Todd Klapak, Chairman

Chief Financial Officer Catherine Janssen

Project Managers Hans Ahlness, Bruce Boe

Weather Modification Inc. Patrick Sweeney President

Meteorology Forecasting and a/c Control

Vice-President James Sweeney

Aviation Pilots

Aircraft Maintenance and Electronics

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B.

20060606 21z

DAILY WEATHER AND ACTIVITIES SUMMARY TABLE 2009

ALBERTA HAIL SUPPRESSION PROJECT 2009 DAILY SUMMARY REPORTS

Date 2009 June 01, Monday

Weather Upper level jet along the Canadian and US border with a secondary jet nosing into AB from the north. High pressure off the BC coast. A trof had moved through the area and is now to the south and east. The atmosphere is mostly stable over the area. Fairly cool and cloudy skies with mostly Sc, Ac and Cu clouds in the morning and early afternoon. By late afternoon, clearing began and remained completely clear overnight. Tmax YC = 12.9C and no rain. Tmax QF = 13.5C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 12.2C and no rain.

Activities Summary No aircraft operations.

June 02, Tuesday

Main jet remains along the Canadian and US border, but is moving eastward with the secondary jet into northern AB. Large ridge is along the west coast, with its influence through our area. The atmosphere is warming, dry and stable. Dry air and clear skies except for a very few Ci, Ac, and Cu clouds. Cold morning temperatures around the area with a low of -4.5C in Rocky, -4.5C in Sundre, and -2C in QF. Tmax YC = 18.9C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.1C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 18.9C and no rain.

All 4 aircraft conducted test flights along the foothills. Flight Summary HS1: 2218-2341: 1 EJ, 1 BIP; patrol Cochrane. HS2: 2225-2340: 1 BIP, 6 min acetone generators; patrol Cremona. HS3: 2225-2331: 1 BIP; patrol Caroline. HS4: 2250-0015: 1 BIP, 6 min acetone generators; patrol Rocky.

June 03, Wednesday

Jet streak extending from NW Terr. into southern MB, so just a little to our north and east. Large ridge remains along the west coast, but a low will be cutting southward through SK overnight and tomorrow. A cold front is in northern AB. The atmosphere is warming and the low levels are dry. Sunny and nice day with clear skies except for a few Ci, Cu, Ac, and As. Another cold morning with a low temperature of -0.5C in QF, -1.8C in Rocky and 2.6C in Sundre. Tmax YC = 23.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.7C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.1C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

June 04, Thursday

Jet core has now sagged southward over our area. Ridge is still over the west coast but is weakening over AB. Weak vorticity is over the foothills today and a weak cold front will be passing through the project area in the late afternoon. The atmosphere is unstable with slight, upper level cooling. A few SHRA developed over the foothills after 2230Z and drifted into the project area around Calgary by 01Z. A line of thundershowers developed from Rocky to Strathmore after 03Z and then mostly diminished by 06Z,
75

No aircraft operations.

with some areas of rain through the night. 42 Max dBz. Tmax YC = 21.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 19.1C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 18.6C and 0.5 mm of rain. June 05, Friday Jet core has backed to the west over eastern BC. Developing low will be moving southward through AB. Lots of vorticity and moisture is associated with the low. The atmosphere is saturated with small instability at the low levels. Cloudy and cool. The high temperature for the day occurred in the early morning hours just after midnight. A few SHRA in the morning with a bigger area of RA developing after 17Z and lasted through the afternoon. The precipitation had changed to mostly snow just before 00Z and very light snow fell through the night in the southern project. 31 max dBz. Tmax YC = 10.6C and 6.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 10.2C and 3.0 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 7.7C and 9.0 mm of rain. June 06, Saturday Jet core is still to the west over BC. Upper level low is positioned over southern AB. Plenty of vorticity and moisture over the area again. The atmosphere is cold but slight unstable, more so in the north. Scattered areas of precipitation over the project area throughout the day. Light snowfall in the Calgary area in the morning changed to a rain and snow mix in the afternoon. Most precipitation had tapered off by 06Z. 3 mm ice pellets reported at YC at 0329Z. 36 max dBz. Tmax YC = 8.1C and 6.4 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 11.5C and 0.4 mm rain. Tmax Radar = 8.7C and 0.9 mm of rain. June 07, Sunday Upper Low nearly stationary over AB with PVA thru the period. Lower levels remain moist and unseasonably cool, with some instability as well. TSRA along Western border late afternoon with scattered RA near QF, then mostly cloudy overnight with fog developing around sunrise. 34 max dBz. Tmax YC = 11C and no rain. Tmax QF = 10C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 7.5C and no rain. June 08, Monday Upper Low still situated over AB with low-level moisture increasing as the period progresses. Some PVA along the mountains late in the afternoon and evening. Scattered SHRA developed after 17z and lasted thru 01z with a few lightning strokes mainly in the N, then mostly RA until around 09z tapering off towards sunrise. 36 max dBz. Tmax YC = 12C and no rain.
76

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

Tmax QF = 11.9C and 0.4mm rain. Tmax Radar = 11.7C and 0.4mm rain. June 09, Tuesday Upper Low starting to drift into SK as SFC High begins to build into the project area. Short wave moving thru the area in the afternoon ahead of more stable, dry airmass. Scattered SHRA around YC and the eastern border of the project with some lightning detected thru late afternoon. Clearing overnight. 39 max dBz. Tmax YC = 15C and a trace rain. Tmax QF = 16C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 14C and no rain. Public Relations: 5 individuals from AXA Insurance visited the Olds radar site and spent time talking with pilots and meteorologists, learning about the cloud seeding project. All had a good time! HS1 flew from YC to Olds and HS4 flew from QF to Olds for the AXA Insurance visit to the radar site. Flight Summary HS1: 1702-1749Z; no seeding, YC to Olds. HS4: 1721-1755Z; no seeding, QF to Olds. HS1: 2137-2211Z; no seeding, Olds to YC. HS4: 2138-2209Z; no seeding, Olds to QF. June 10, Wednesday SFC High continues to build into the area beneath developing upper level diffluent pattern. Fairly stable/dry air in place thru the mid and lower levels. Mostly CLR with a few fair CU developing around the afternoon. A few showers over the foothills during the afternoon, but didnt move into the project area. CLR overnight. Tmax YC = 19C and no rain. Tmax QF = 19C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 18C and no rain. HS3 conducted three test flights to check the EJ firing system. HS2 performed a patrol and training flight near some TCU and -SHRA over the foothills. Flight Summary HS3: 0420-0507Z; no seeding, test QF. HS3: 1921-1957Z; 3 EJ, test QF. HS2: 1954-2121Z; no seeding, patrol foothills. HS3: 2057-2118Z; 6 EJ, test QF. No aircraft operations.

June 11, Thursday

Upper level divergence over the area today with jet to the south and east. A weak cool front is expected to stall out over the area tonight and create a weak surface boundary. A few Cu and Ci clouds during the afternoon. Some very light rain developed around midnight and moved through the central project areas during the night. 15 max dBz. Tmax YC = 23C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.7C and no rain.

June 12, Friday

Main jet is to the south and east. Surface boundary is along the north and east edge of the project area. There is limited mid and low level moisture, but is the most instability in the atmosphere so far this summer. Thundershowers formed over the foothills around noon, but with weak wind shear there was very little movement. The widespread area of thundershowers moved into the project after 21Z. Two short-lived stronger cells developed around 23Z, one near Sylvan and the other just east of YC. 4 mm ice pellets at YC at 2330Z. Max cell top= 9.5 km, 50 max dBz, 7.0 max VIL.
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No aircraft operations.

Tmax YC = 23.1C and 3.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 23C and 9.4 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 21.2C and no rain. June 13, Saturday Weak Low-pressure trough is approaching the target area from the West. Surface Low-pressure center is located to the south of BC. Stationery front remains located over SK. The atmosphere is very unstable and humid. A few showers formed after 19Z in the foothills and the western project. After 21Z the scattered showers increased into thundershowers. Storm #1 developed north of Bagg Creek around 00Z and slowly moved through north Calgary. A few areas of thundershowers remained until 03Z. 0.6 cm hail was reported at YC at 0112Z from storm #1. Max cell top= 10.5 km, 50 max dBz, 8.0 max VIL. Tmax YC = 26.5 C and 9.4mm of rain. Tmax QF = 25.9C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 25.1C and no rain. June 14, Sunday Weak Low-pressure trough remains located over the eastern part of AB. Surface Low-pressure center is located over the project area. Jet PVA core is approaching AB from the west. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. SHRA developed in the foothills around 18Z. A stronger thunderstorm developed near Limestone mountain about 1930Z and slowly moved eastward but then diminished before reaching Sundre. There were areas of weak thundershowers until 01Z and then some rain overnight. Max cell top= 10.5 km, 52 max dBz, 12.1 max VIL. Tmax YC = 25.2C and no rain. Tmax QF = 25.9C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 26.1C and 0.2 mm of rain. June 15, Monday Low-pressure trough is approaching AB from the west. Surface Low-pressure center is located SW of the target area. Stationary front remains located over the northern part of AB. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Light rain in the morning in the northern project. Thundershowers formed over the foothills after 18Z. Scattered, weak thundershowers developed over the project area after 21Z. A stronger thunderstorm formed right over QF at 2340Z but only lasted for 35 min. 1 cm hail was reported at QF at 2348Z. Max cell top= 9.5 km, 48 max dBz, 8.2 max VIL. Tmax YC = 25.6C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 25.0C and 0.2 mm of rain. June 16, Tuesday Low-pressure trough has passed the target area and now its axis is located over the eastern part of AB. Surface Low-pressure center is located over the target area. Stationary front remains located over the northern parts of AB and SK. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Thundershowers in the foothills in the early afternoon and
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HS1 was launched at 0035Z. HS1 was airborne at 0052Z. HS1 started seeding storm #1 at 01Z at cloud top on the west side of Calgary. HS1 continued seeding storm #1 as it moved through Calgary finding decent LW and updrafts. HS1 stopped seeding storm #1 at 0144Z as the storm had moved past Calgary and was diminishing with no more seeding targets. HS1 RTB at 0155Z. Flight Summary HS1: 0045-0209Z; 58 EJ, 4 BIP; #1 N YC.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations. Terry Krauss and Barry Robinson completed a radar calibration.

persisted in the southern and central project area thru 00z. 6mm hail reported @ 1940z from CYBW. Max cell top= 10.5 km, 46 max dBz, 6.1 max VIL. Tmax YC = 21.5C and 13.6 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 23.5C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.3C and no rain. June 17, Wednesday Short wave Low-pressure trough is located over the target area. Surface Low-pressure center has formed over the central part of AB. Jet PVA core is approaching AB from the west and now it is located over BC. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Showers along the foothills beginning around 19z and moving E to NE thru the project area. The SHRA developed into thundershowers around 20z thru 22z, then diminishing to light rain through the evening and overnight. Max cell top= 8.5 km, 46 max dBz, 6.9 max VIL. Tmax YC = 22.4C and 0.4 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 24.5C and 2.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 23.0C and 9.5 mm of rain. June 18, Thursday High-pressure ridge is approaching to AB province from the West. Surface Low-pressure center is located NE of the target area. Stationary front remains located over the northern parts of AB, SK. and MB provinces. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid. Three bands of thundershowers moved through the Calgary area beginning at 20Z and ending about 03Z. There were also some light showers in the north during the evening. There was an unsubstantiated report of golf ball sized hail in NW Calgary to Global TV around 23Z. Max cell top= 6.5 km, 47 max dBz, 5.2 max VIL. Tmax YC = 19.7 C and 3.6 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 22.3C and 3.6 m of rain. Tmax Radar = 20.7C and 0.3 mm of rain. June 19, Friday Upper jet is just to the south of the project area. A weak ridge has moved though and now over eastern AB. A surface low is expected to be forming in southern AB this afternoon. The atmosphere is unstable. Broken areas of rain developed across the project area during the afternoon with some lightning. The strongest cell was short lived near Rimbey. The rain lasted until 05Z. Max cell top= 8.5 km, 47 max dBz, 8.7 max VIL. Tmax YC = 21.8C and a trace of rain. Tmax QF = 23.5C and 6.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 22.1C and 0.6 mm of rain. June 20, Saturday Upper jet is now directly over the project area. A deep trof is over BC, giving southerly flow over AB. A strong low will be forming in MT during the evening and moving northward bringing upslope flow overnight. The atmosphere is only slightly unstable. Weak thundershowers developed over the foothills
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HS2 performed a patrol flight in the Crossfield and Carstairs area. HS2 found no inflow on the weak thundershower. Flight Summary HS2: 2026-2146Z; no seeding, patrol Carstairs.

HS4 performed a patrol flight near Cremona. HS4 found no inflow. HS1 was launched at 0155Z to thundershower approaching Cochrane. HS1 was airborne at 0209Z. HS1 reported no seeding targets and storm was diminishing. HS1 was RTB at 0237Z. Flight Summary HS4: 2108-2303Z; no seeding, patrol Cremona. HS1: 0200-0255Z; no seeding, patrol Cochrane.

HS2 flew a short test flight to make sure the acetone burners were functioning. HS1 performed a patrol flight over the foothills through some weak showers. Flight Summary HS2: 1825-1905Z; 8 min acetone generators, test Cochrane. HS1: 1827-1936Z; no seeding, patrol foothills.

No aircraft operations.

around 21Z, mostly to the north of Limestone mountain. These thundershowers moved into the Rocky area by 23Z and lasted through most of the evening. Overnight, widespread rain with some lightning moved in from the east beginning about 09Z. 42 max dBz, 3.3 max VIL. Tmax YC = 22.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 22.5C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.7C and no rain. June 21, Sunday Tail end of upper level jet now over the project area. Deep trof over BC, but very little for upper level dynamics in the project area. Surface low in southern SK producing lots of cloud cover in AB and SK. Only a small amount of instability in the atmosphere. Overcast skies in the morning became broken by late afternoon. The widespread rain in the morning diminished by 20Z with only a few SHRA in the afternoon and evening. 40 max dBz. Tmax YC = 16.1C and a trace of rain. Tmax QF = 17.2C and 2.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 14.8C and 20 mm of rain. June 22, Monday Main upper jet is to the south of AB, with weak flow over the province. A mid level low is moving through ID and MT, pushing moisture and energy into southern AB. The atmosphere is cooling and slightly unstable. A few showers were in the far southern project area from 18Z to 21Z. Scattered SHRA developed in the north around 22Z and then diminished by 01Z. More showers formed around Calgary by 23Z and lasted until 05Z. A few lightning strikes were detected in the late afternoon. 37 max dBz. Tmax YC = 17.3C and no rain. Tmax QF = 18.1C and 0.4 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 16.5C and 0.6 mm of rain. June 23, Tuesday A short wave trof is passing through the project area early this afternoon and then a ridge begins building in behind the trof. The atmosphere is somewhat dry and cool but unstable. Scattered SHRA developed in the western project around 17Z and lasted through 03Z. A few cells developed into short live thundershowers between 1830Z and 22Z. Max titan cell= 7.5 km, 47 max dBz, 4.2 max VIL. Tmax YC = 20.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 19.0C and 0.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 18.5C and no rain. June 24, Wednesday Upper jet in southern BC will be moving into AB during the night. Ridge axis is now along the AB/SK border but still influencing the project area. The atmosphere is dry at low levels and stable. Mostly clear skies in the morning and early afternoon and then a passing band of mid and upper level clouds in the late afternoon and evening.
80

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

Tmax YC = 24.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.4C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 20.8C and no rain. June 25, Thursday Upper level low is moving into northern AB with the surface low moving into central AB just to the north of the project area. Trailing cool front moving through the area during the afternoon and then bringing drier, stable air. Weak thundershowers developed around Sundre and north of Airdrie in the early afternoon. Scattered thundershowers persisted through 23Z in the north project area with some light rain ending by 02Z. Max titan cell= 7.5 km, 46 max dBz, 5.2 max VIL. Tmax YC = 24.7C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.6C and 0.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 19.5C and 2.0 mm of rain. Public Relations: 14 individuals from The Co-operators Insurance Company visited the Olds radar site and the Calgary airport office to spend time talking with pilots and meteorologists, learning about the cloud seeding project. HS3 and HS4 flew from QF to YC and back for the insurance group visit to the Calgary office. HS3 performed a fly-by at the radar for the insurance group during the flight to YC. Flight Summary HS3: 2026-2113Z; to YC. HS4: 2028-2114Z; to YC. HS3: 2355-0043Z; to QF. HS4: 2356-0101Z; to QF. June 26, Friday Upper low is in central AB with trof digging through the project area this evening and overnight. PVA is present around YC late with very limited low level instability and continued drying of the low and mid levels of the atmosphere. A few, small convective showers developed in the early afternoon around Airdrie. During the evening, more stratus rain was observed in the Strathmore area. 32 max dBz. Tmax YC = 21.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.1C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 19.4C and no rain. June 27, Saturday Upper level closed low is moving into northern BC while a jet max begins nosing into the project area overnight. Upper level ridge is the dominant feature over the area providing very stable, dry air throughout the day. Mostly clear skies in the morning and early afternoon, with Ci and Ac clouds during the mid and late afternoon. Tmax YC = 23.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 20.6C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 19.1C and no rain. June 28, Sunday Upper level jet pushing into the project area from the west this afternoon. Upper low over NW BC with vorticity max rotating through the northern project area. Limited low level moisture and a little instability in the atmosphere. Light showers developed in the Sundre to Rocky area No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. no seeding, QF no seeding, QF no seeding, YC no seeding, YC

No aircraft operations.

81

during the afternoon and lasted until 00Z. Over night, more showers developed in the north and central project regions with a few strikes of lightning. 39 max dBz. Tmax YC = 24.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 20.3C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 19.2C and no rain. June 29, Monday Upper level jet over the area again today with broad trof through the western provinces. S/w trof moving through the project area this afternoon with surface low developing along the trof. Modest low-level moisture in the afternoon, along with moderate instability. Showers started forming in the Sundre to Rocky area after 20Z. Storm #1 developed at 22Z east of Caroline, passing through Red Deer around 2330Z and out of the project by 0030Z. Scattered thundershowers remained in the northern project area through 06Z. Pea size (0.8 cm) hail was reported in Red Deer from storm #1. Tmax YC = 22.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.2C and 3.4 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 21.3C and no rain. June 30, Tuesday Upper level jet still over the project area with deep low over northern AB. Strong PVA rotating through southern AB this afternoon. Lower levels of the atmosphere are becoming more-unstable in late afternoon. Light showers developed in the NW project around 19Z. By 22Z a line of weak thundershowers formed from Sundre to Innisfail. Storm #1 developed near Cremona around 00Z and moved eastward passing just north of Airdrie at 0115Z. Short-lived storm #2 developed on the west side of Calgary at 0130Z but never developed much beyond a rain shower. Some rain remained until 05Z. Shot size hail (0.5 cm) was reported in Rocky and at the radar. Max titan cell= 6.5 km, 47 max dBz, 5.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 18.4 C and a trace of rain. Tmax QF = 16.5 C and a trace of rain. Tmax Radar = 15.5 C and 6.2 mm of rain. July 01, Wednesday Low-pressure trough continues to move to the West and now its axis is located over the central part of SK province. Surface High-pressure center is located over the border between BC and AB provinces. Jet PVA core remains located over the Southern part of Alberta. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Nice and mostly clear Canada day in the early afternoon. Showers developed over the foothills near Bragg Creek beginning at 2130Z. One cell developed into a thundershower by 23Z as it moved into west Calgary. The strongest cell formed south of Bragg Creek at 2330Z but diminished by 0030Z SW of Calgary. Max titan cell= 8.5 km, 47 max dBz, 5.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 19.4 C and 0.8 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 19.4 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 18.7 C and 0.5 mm of rain in the rain
82

HS4 was launched at 2218Z. HS4 was airborne at 2241Z. HS4 started seeding storm #1 at 2247Z south of Sylvan Lake. HS4 continued seeding storm #1 as it moved through Red Deer, finding good inflow. HS4 stopped seeding storm #1 at 0002Z as the storm had moved past Red Deer. HS4 RTB at 0010Z with no more growing cells. Flight Summary HS4: 2229-0038; 13 BIP, 136 min acetone generator time, #1 Red Deer.

HS2 was launched at 2243Z. HS2 was airborne 2302Z and proceeded to patrol a line of weak thundershowers west of Didsbury. HS2 started seeding storm #1 near Cremona at 0037Z with good inflow. HS2 stopped seeding storm #1 at 0122Z as it was east of QEII and was directed towards small development west of Calgary. HS2 started seeding storm #2 at 0157Z with very small inflow. HS2 stopped seeding storm #2 at 0225Z and RTB as the cell was quickly diminishing. Flight Summary HS2: 2249-0239Z; 16 BIP, #1 Cremona, #2 BW. No aircraft operations.

gauge. July 02, Thursday Upper level Low pressure center is located northern AB. Weak Low-pressure trough associated with this center is approaching to the target area from the NW. Surface High-pressure center remains located over the project area. Jet PVA core is located over the southern parts of AB and SK. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Showers developed along the foothills beginning around 19Z and slowly moved through the north and central project areas as weak thundershowers, lasting until 02Z. More scattered thundershowers developed over the project area around 04Z. A stronger storm formed right over Calgary at 0515Z but it had diminished by 0540Z. Max titan cell= 8.5 km, 48 max dBz, 5.9 max VIL. Tmax YC = 20.5 C and 0.8 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 21.4 C and 2.0 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 18.8 C and 3.8 mm of rain. July 03, Friday Upper level Low pressure center remains located over the northern border of AB. Low-pressure trough has passed the project area and now its axis is located over SK. Jet PVA core is located over the Southern parts of AB and SK provinces. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. A few showers formed near Limestone mountain around 20Z and lasted until 23Z, but all diminished as they drifted into the project area. More showers developed after 09Z in the southern project area and then some in the northeast project regions after 10Z. A few very lightning strikes were detected from these showers. 38 max dBz. Tmax YC = 20.3 C and trace of rain. Tmax QF = 20.0 C and 1.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 18.9 C and no rain. July 04, Saturday Upper level Low pressure center remains located over the Northern border of AB. Low-pressure trough passed the project area during the last night. Surface Highpressure center is located over the Southern part of SK. Jet PVA core is crossing the AB and SK provinces from the NW to the SE. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Many thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and tracked through the project area. This was the first big outbreak of the season. Storm #1 developed along the foothills W of CYBW around 2130Z and began tracking to the east. The storm continued to develop into a hail threat as it approached the BW/YC area, then diminished as it moved thru the metro area from 22-23Z. Storm #2 developed in the western buffer near Elkton around 20Z and began slowly moving eastward. At 2130Z the storm was just south of Cremona and appeared to be a hail threat. Around 22Z the storm began to weaken into +SHRA and continued to diminish over the next hr, then redeveloped as it began crossing QEII north of Airdrie. Storm #3 began developing around 2245Z west of Sundre, tracking slowly towards the east. At about
83

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

HS2 was launched at 2133Z and was airborne at 2150Z. By 2158Z they had found good inflow and began seeding at cloud base near BW. At 2245Z they reported no inflow over YC and stopped seeding briefly, then started again at 2250Z when inflow redeveloped. At 2320Z they were repositioned to the W of Sundre and began seeding in the area there at 2334Z. At 0005Z they reported no inflow and proceeded to patrol the Cochrane area but found no suitable targets there and RTB at 0015Z. HS1 was launched at 2153Z. HS1 was airborne at 2216Z. HS1 found no seeding targets and was RTB at 2233Z due to a door seal leak. HS3 was launched at 2323Z and was airborne at 2339Z. Around 2355Z they reported good

2330Z it began moving thru Sundre as it weakened. By 00Z the storm was thru the Sundre area and had almost completely dissipated. Storm #4 was already developed at 2230Z as it entered the NW buffer zone heading ESE towards Rocky Mtn House. By 00Z, it had moved thru the RMH area as SHRA and continued to diminish over the next hour. Storm #5 began developing just after 00Z near QF, ahead of the decaying Storm #4. Around 0045Z it began moving thru the QF area and HS4 PIC reported a funnel cloud near the NE side of town. By 0130Z the storm was thru the QF area and dissipating. Storm #6 developed around 0130Z west of CYBW and quickly diminished into SH by 02Z. It redeveloped into heavier SHRA by 0230Z near the Carstairs area, then began dissipating again and was east of QEII by 03Z. 0.6 cm hail reported at BW at 2214Z from storm #1. Max titan cell= 11.5 km, 53 max dBz, 15.9 max VIL. Tmax YC = 25.2 C and 3.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 23.5 C and trace of rain. Tmax Radar = 23.4 C and 2.6 mm of rain.

liquid/updrafts in feeders near RMH and began seeding at cloud top. At 0005Z they reported no suitable targets in the area and repositioned to the Sylvan area. At 0035Z they began seeding again S of Sylvan Lake and continued until 0119Z when they reported no good targets in the area so they repositioned to the W to patrol the RMH area. By 0153 they were unable to locate any good targets and RTB. HS4 was launched at 0104Z and was airborne at 0119Z. At 0132Z they began seeding at base N of RMH and continued until 0220Z. At that time they repositioned to the QF area to patrol but found no suitable targets. At 0242 they RTB after reporting no new growth in the area. HS2 was launched at 0154Z. HS2 was airborne at 0207Z. They patrolled the area W then N of Cochrane At 0245Z they investigated the area near Crossfield but were unable to locate any inflow and at 0248Z they RTB. Flight Summary HS2: 2140-0033Z; 15 BIP, 103 min acetone generator time, #1 Calgary, #2 N Airdrie, #3 S Sundre. HS1: 2205-2247Z; no seeding, patrol Calgary. HS3: 2328-0209Z; 49 EJ, 5 BIP, #4 Rocky, #5 QF. HS4: 0106-0250Z; 6 BIP, 48 min acetone generator time, #6 Rocky. HS2: 0158-0322Z; no seeding, patrol N Calgary.

July 05, Sunday

Upper level Low-pressure center has moved to the East and now it is located over the Northern part of SK. Surface High-pressure center is located over the project area. Jet PVA core is crossing AB and SK provinces from the NW to the SE. The atmosphere is unstable and very humid. Thunderstorms developed over the southern of the western buffer zone after 21Z with most diminishing before they reached the project area. A few isolated cells persisted and tracked E towards YC, BW and the Okotoks/High River area, but no storms actually reached any of the major metro areas. Storm #1 developed NW of Cochrane around 2330Z and moved slowly to the E. It diminished quickly and by 0030Z the storm had dissipated N and E of Cochrane. Max titan cell= 10.5, 49 max dBz, 9.4 max VIL.

HS2 was launched at 2203Z towards developing cells along the western border near BW. At 2224Z HS2 was airborne and discovered that their gyro was malfunctioning and they immediately RTB. HS3 was launched at 2323Z and were airborne at 2335Z. En route they patrolled a small cell near Cremona and found small updrafts with no liquid. They continued on towards a cell developing W of Okotoks that fell apart before they arrived. At 00Z they were patrolling the area W of YC/BW

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Golf ball size hail was reported outside the project area to the south of Nanton. Tmax YC = 21.5 C and 0.8 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 20.7 C and 5.0 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 19.2 C and 8.0 mm of rain.

and at 0020Z they began seeding tops of feeders associated with Storm #1 N of Cochrane. At 0031Z they had to descend to shed ice off of the aircraft. At 0038Z they began climbing back to altitude over BW to continue patrolling. At 0058Z they reported no good visual targets and RTB to YC. Flight Summary HS2: 2210-2237Z; no seeding; patrol BW. HS3: 2324-0113Z; 39 EJ, 2 BIP; #1 Cochrane.

July 06, Monday

Upper level Low-pressure center and Low-pressure trough are approaching the project area from the West. Cold front is located over the Northern part of AB and moving slowly to the South. Jet PVA core is crossing the Southern part of AB from the SE to the NW. The atmosphere is unstable and very humid. A few scattered showers in the morning. Surface low and cold front moved into southern AB bringing widespread thick cloud cover and rain beginning around 18Z in the south and moving into the northern project regions by mid afternoon. There were embedded thundershowers within the widespread rain. The south cleared by 22Z with rain lasting through the night in the north. 42 max dBz, 3.1 max VIL. Tmax YC = 18.3C and 24.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 21.1C and 12.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 17.1C and 17.5 mm of rain.

HS3 performed a patrol flight from YC to BW and the Cochrane area and found some liquid below the freezing level, and ice with little to no updrafts in the turrets. At 1930Z they RTB to QF. Flight Summary HS3: 1905-1952Z; no seeding; patrol Cochrane.

July 07, Tuesday

Upper level low over BC creating a broad trof over western Canada. Areas of PVA scattered over southern AB within the trof region. Surface low centered over the NE project area. The atmosphere is slightly unstable due to shallow surface moisture. Isolated thundershower developed W of Cremona around 18Z moving slowly to the east. By 20Z it was thru Sundre heading towards Olds. At 21Z 0.8cm hail was reported in Olds. Storm #1 began developing S of BW around 21Z moving ENE around 5-10kts. The storm decayed slowly over Northern Calgary and was thru the metro area around 2330Z. Around 00Z a N-S line of thundershowers had formed over the foothills, which moved thru the Nrn project area lasting until 05Z. Max titan cell= 7.5 km, 47 max dBz, 5.8 max VIL. Tmax YC = 19.7C and 2.4 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 20.1C and 16.2 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 18.7C and 0.4 mm of rain.

HS1 was launched at 2133Z and airborne at 2154Z to patrol the YC area. At 2215Z they found steady inflow of 500-1000fpm and began seeding at base with BIP. At 2255Z there were no visual targets in the area and they RTB. Flight Summary HS1: 2145-2319Z; 5 BIP; #1 Calgary.

July 08, Wednesday

Upper low forming over eastern AB above the strengthening surface low. Some areas of weak PVA move through the project area during the afternoon and evening. The atmosphere is quite unstable despite some upper level warming. Scattered showers developed throughout the western
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HS1 was launched at 1820Z towards Storm #1 and was airborne at 1830Z. They began base seeding at 1834Z and continued seeding around the YC and Airdrie regions as the storm developed over the area until

project area and tracked eastward beginning around 18Z with embedded thundershowers. After 00Z there were just areas of rain which lasted through the night. Storm #1 developed N of Cochrane around 18Z tracking E towards north Calgary. New growth developed around the southern end over the metro area from 19-20Z. By 2030Z the core was thru Calgary. Storm #2 developed as the remnants of Storm #1 became more organized over Chestermere around 2030Z. The storm began to diminish as it tracked thru the Strathmore area and by 22Z had exited the project area. Max titan cell= 6.5 km, 49 max dBz, 5.8 max VIL. Multiple funnel clouds were reported in the Calgary to Strathmore area during the afternoon. Tmax YC = 18.1C and 2.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 17.3C and 7.0 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 16.1C and 9.0 mm of rain. July 09, Thursday Upper jet pushing into northern AB from the north. A trof is now over SK and MB giving northwesterly flow in AB. A short wave trof is cutting through the north and eastern project area along with a weak cold front. The atmosphere is unstable only at low levels. Mostly cloudy and cool over the area. A few showers developed over the foothills around 1830Z, and drifted into the project area. A weak thundershower moved through western Calgary from 20Z to 2030Z. There was widespread RA over the foothills and southern project area until 07Z and then a few areas of light rain through the night. 40 max dBz, 2.0 max VIL. Tmax YC = 16.0C and 3.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 14.1C and 4.0 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 12.4C and no rain.

1950Z when they became unable to locate steady inflow. At 2010Z HS1 RTB. HS2 was launched at 2045Z towards Storm #2 and was airborne at 2059Z. They began seeding at base at 2107Z when they encountered inflow around the SE side of the storm. HS2 continued to work the storm until 2140Z when the storm was exiting the project area at which time HS2 RTB. Flight Summary HS1: 1824-2030Z; 13 BIP; #1 Calgary HS2: 2047-2213Z; 3 BIP; #2 Strathmore Public Relations: A film crew from Veriscope Pictures, Inc. arrived at the Red Deer airport in the afternoon, to film for National Geographic. HS3 was launched at 1820Z for a PR related flight. HS3 was airborne at 1840Z and flew the area around Sylvan. HS3 RTB at 1909Z. HS3 was launched at 2322Z for a seeding and PR flight over the foothills. HS3 was airborne at 2341Z. HS3 seeded a thundershower south of Limestone mountain at cloud top from 0008Z until 0034Z. HS3 RTB at 0036Z. HS3 flew a short PR flight over the Red Deer airport. Flight Summary HS3: 1829-1923Z; no seeding; PR flight QF. HS3: 2332-0109Z; 7 EJ, 8 BIP; seeded S Limestone mountain. HS3: 0131-0154Z; no seeding; PR flight QF.

July 10, Friday

Small upper jet over central AB. Trof over MB and ridge over the Pacific gives northwesterly flow in AB. Small PVA moves through the north project in the evening and night. The atmosphere is slightly unstable but warming. A few light convective radar echoes from virga in the northern project from 23Z to 01Z. Few scattered areas of light rain in the evening and night in the NE project regions. 38 max dBz. Tmax YC = 22.6C and 0.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 20.8C and no rain.
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Public Relations: Veriscope Pictures continued more filming at Red Deer and then later did some filming at the Olds-Didsbury airport radar operations center. HS4 flew a short PR flight over the Red Deer airport. Flight Summary HS4: 2010-2058Z; no seeding; PR flight QF.

Tmax Radar = 21.9C and no rain. July 11, Saturday Northwesterly flow continues over AB. Very weak vorticity across the project area during the afternoon with a weak cold sliding through. The atmosphere is warming but still unstable. A few thundershowers were over the foothills during the afternoon from 20Z to 02Z, but the strongest cells remained over the foothills. Some of the weak thundershowers drifted into west Calgary before completely diminishing. 41 max dBz, 2.5 max VIL. Tmax YC = 20.3C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.0C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 19.8C and no rain. July 12, Sunday Tail of upper jet just to the east of the project area. A ridge is building along the AB and SK border, but a short wave trof will be undercutting the ridge, moving through the project area. A surface low is positioned in southeast BC, giving southerly low level winds in AB. The atmosphere is pretty unstable with relatively high dew points but a fairly strong CAP. First thundershowers formed along the foothills around 20Z but moved very little and all but one had diminished by 22Z. A few areas of light rain to very weak thundershowers moved through during the night. Storm #1 formed around 2130Z NE of Limestone mountain and slowly moved to the SE. The storm had diminished to a thundershower by 00Z before reaching Sundre. Strom #2 formed north of Nordegg at 23Z and moved SE. The storm diminished by 01Z in the north buffer. Max titan cell= 11.5 km, 52 max dBz, 14.2 max VIL. Quarter size hail (2.5 cm) reported south of Caroline from Storm #1. Tmax YC = 25.0C and no rain. Tmax QF = 25.0C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 24.1C and no rain. HS4 was launched at 2120Z to patrol area W of RMH. At 2144Z HS4 was airborne. HS4 started seeding cell N of Sundre at 2211Z. At 2327Z HS4 stopped seeding and started patrolling area SE of Sundre. HS4 was directed to the area NW of RMH at 2350Z. At 0032Z HS4 started seeding the cell NW of RMH. At 0100Z HS4 stopped seeding and RTB as they were out of on station time. HS2 was launched at 2145Z to patrol area SW of Calgary. At 2208Z HS2 was airborne. At 2218Z HS2 started patrolling over the Bragg Greek. At 2324Z HS2 RTB as all cells in the southern project area had greatly diminished. Flight Summary HS4: 2130-0125Z; 23 BIP, 241 min acetone generator time; #1 N of Sundre, #2 NW of Rocky. HS2: 2156-2347Z; no seeding; patrol over Bragg Creek and S of Calgary. No aircraft operations. HS2 was launched at 2242Z to patrol area W of Cochrane. At 2305Z HS2 was airborne. At 2315Z HS2 started to patrol area W of Calgary. At 0018Z HS2 was redirected to a new target NW of Cochrane. HS2 RTB at 0050Z with all cells diminishing. Flight Summary HS2: 2258-0110Z; no seeding; patrol Cochrane.

July 13, Monday

Upper level low along the MT/AB border in the afternoon with surface trof along the AB/SK border. Weak vorticity remains mostly N southern AB. Lower levels are moist with moderate instability this afternoon. An area of rain with embedded thundershowers began in the morning in the SW project regions and covered most of the southern half of the project area until 00Z. The strongest cells developed south of Strathmore around 1830Z but moved NE out of the project area. Some more light rain existed in the western project areas during the evening and night hours. Max titan cell= 8.5 km, 45 max dBz, 4.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 17.9C and 18 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 20.2C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 18.2C and no rain.

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July 14, Tuesday

Upper level low moving into MB in the afternoon with surface high building into the project area from the north. A weak short wave trof moves through in the afternoon with limited mid and lower level moisture convergence. Mostly cloudy and cool day across the area. An area of rain started in the morning over the mountains and slowly moved through the southern project area, lasting until 20Z. More areas of light rain formed over the mountains in the afternoon and again in the evening but mostly stayed over the foothills. 33 max dBz. Tmax YC = 14.5C and 1.4 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 16.3C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 14.5C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

July 15, Wednesday

Upper level jet pushing into southern AB/SK along with a weak ridge. Lower levels remain fairly dry and stable but mid levels are more unstable. Surface high continues to build over the region, but a low level trof is expected to develop along the foothills and slowly move eastward in the afternoon. A shower formed along the foothills west of Cremona around 18Z and moved SE through Calgary as a rain shower. This shower had left the city limits by 2130Z, but then developed into a stronger storm at 2230Z east of High River and continued to the SE through Vulcan as a thunderstorm. Max titan cell= 8.5 km, 45 max dBz, 7.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 20.5C and 1.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 23.2C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.3C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

July 16, Thursday

Upper level ridge continues to build over western Canada with a relatively weak jet over AB. Lower levels become more unstable during the afternoon. The first shower formed along the foothills to the west of Cremona after 1730Z. By 20Z, more scattered weak thundershowers had formed across the project area. A stronger cell developed N of Sundre at 2030Z then diminished by 22Z near Olds with pea size hail observed to the NW of Olds. Scattered thundershowers remained across the project until 0830Z. Storm #1 formed on the NE side of Calgary city limits around 01Z as a heavy rain shower, and then increased in strength to a bigger storm around 0130Z. A funnel cloud was reported by HS4 at 0215Z. The storm had diminished by 0245Z south of Strathmore. Max titan cell= 9.5 km, 51 max dBz, 8.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 26.6C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.4C and 1.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 25.3C and no rain.

HS2 was launched at 2111Z and was airborne at 2122Z. HS2 patrolled around Olds until 2149Z when HS2 was directed to some growing clouds near Calgary. HS2 found no more growing Cu and RTB at 2229Z. HS4 was launched at 2356Z. HS4 was airborne at 0012Z. HS4 found no growing cells and patrolled west of Red Deer until 0031Z when HS4 was directed to showers near Rocky. HS4 was directed to the developing storm east of Calgary at 0128Z. HS4 started seeding storm #1 W of Strathmore at 0206Z. HS4 stopped seeding storm #1 at 0234Z, as the storm was leaving the area. HS4 RTB at 0257Z with no more convective clouds. Flight Summary HS2: 2115-2251Z; no seeding; patrol Olds and N Cochrane. HS4: 0002-0306Z; 8 BIP; patrol QF to Rocky, #1 W Strathmore.

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July 17, Friday

Ridge axis moving into central AB throughout the day with an upper level jet over the project area. Fairly high surface temperature and dew points around the area resulting in some instability in the atmosphere, but there is a strong CAP over the project area. A few showers starting developing along the foothills after 20Z, but most diminished within 30 min as they drifted into the stronger CAPPED area. One cell lasted longer, which started north of Limestone mountain at 2130Z. By 23Z a big anvil cloud from this cell stretched across the central project area, and then the thundershower core diminished by 01Z north of Sundre. Overnight, a chinook arch cloud formed over the project area. Max titan cell= 6.5 km, 44 max dBz, 3.8 max VIL. Tmax YC = 26.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 27.1C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 25.4C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

July 18, Saturday

Surface low and trof developing along the foothills ahead of an upper low moving into BC. Upper jet nosing into southern AB along with modest mid level vorticity. High temperature and dew points again but the area remains CAPPED and fairly stable. Very nice and warm afternoon across the project area. A cold front moved through the northern half of the project area in the evening after 0230Z but only produced very light rain from stratus clouds except for some better development east of Red Deer around 04Z. The cold front and clouds had left the area by 06Z. 40 max dBz. Big storms developed in the afternoon to the north of the project area, with toonie size hail. Later in the evening, another storm moved through Edmonton with strong winds causing lots of downed trees, leaving many areas without electricity, and other storm damage. Tmax YC = 29.8C and no rain. Tmax QF = 29.3C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 27.8C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

July 19, Sunday

Low-pressure trough has passed AB and now it is located over SK. High-pressure ridge is building over BC. Surface Low-pressure center is located to the S of the project area. Jet PVA core is crossing the Southern part of AB from the NW to the SE. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid. The first shower started in the NW project area around 17Z and moved southeastward. By 19Z, three bands of thundershowers had developed in the central project and then merged into one cluster by 21Z north of Calgary. Storm #1 developed N of Cochrane around 20Z and moved into north Calgary by 2115Z as a thundershower. By 2130Z, storm #1 increased into a bigger thunderstorm over NE Calgary and then continued tracking SE to Carseland and out of the project area by 2235Z. Another storm developed east of High River after 00Z and moved SE out of the project area. Dime size hail (1.8 cm) was reported near Strathmore and quarter size hail (2.5 cm) was reported N of Vulcan
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HS2 was launched at 2026Z. HS2 was airborne at 2023Z. HS2 started seeding storm #1 north of Calgary at 2036Z. HS2 continued seeding storm #1 as it moved through NE Calgary and tracked to the SE. HS2 stopped seeding storm #1 at 2230Z as the storm was south of Strathmore and leaving the area. HS2 patrolled SW of Calgary until RTB at 2323Z with the last cell icing out north of Okotoks. Flight Summary HS2: 2017-2339Z; 21 BIP, 118 min acetone generator time; #1 N Calgary to S Strathmore.

from storm #1. Max titan cell: 8.5 km, 49 max dBz, 6.9 max VIL. Tmax YC = 21.1C and 2.2 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 22.9 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.2 C and no rain. July 20, Monday High-pressure ridge is approaching the project area from the West and now its axis is located over the border between AB and BC. Surface High-pressure center is located over BC. Jet PVA core remains located over the Southern parts of AB and SK. The atmosphere is slightly unstable. Really nice day across the area with no rain in the project or even over the foothills. Many fair weather cumulus clouds developed over most of south and central AB during the afternoon with a few TCU. Tmax YC =22.5 C and no rain. Tmax QF =22.6 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.6 C and no rain. July 21, Tuesday High-pressure ridge is located over AB. Surface Highpressure center has formed over the project area. Short wave Low-pressure trough is approaching to the Northern part of AB from the West. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid with significant cap on the low level. Beautiful sunny day across the area. Very few clouds, only a trace of Ac, Ci, and Cu. Tmax YC = 25.8 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.5 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 25.8 C and no rain. July 22, Wednesday High-pressure ridge remains located over BC and AB. Surface High-pressure center is located over the Southern border of AB. Jet PVA core is crossing the Northern part of the region from the NW to the SE. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid with significant cap on the low level. Another beautiful but hot day across the area with hazy conditions mostly from smoke blowing into AB from the forest fires near Kelowna, BC. A west to east orientated cold front dipped into the northern buffer during the evening forming a few weak thundershowers from 03Z until 10Z. Max titan cell= 6.5 km, 45 max dBz, 5.7 max VIL. Tmax YC = 30.6 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 30.9 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 29.8 C and no rain. July 23, Thursday High-pressure ridge is located over AB. Low-pressure trough is approaching to the project area from the SW. Surface High-pressure center remains located over the Southern part of AB. Jet PVA core is located over the Northern part of AB province. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid. Thunderstorms formed over the foothills beginning around 21Z but with weak wind flow all storms diminished to just mostly light rain before entering into the project
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No aircraft operations.

HS1 flew a series of test and training flights. HS1 first flew from YC to QF. Then HS1 flew from QF to Olds and lastly flew from Olds to YC. Flight Summary HS1: 1718-1800Z; no seeding; test YC to QF. HS1: 1940-2005Z; no seeding; test QF to Olds. HS1: 2036-2114Z; no seeding; test Olds to YC. Public Relations: HS1 flew from Calgary to Airdrie for the Airdrie Air Show. This proved to be very good for public relations as many spectators were interested in the airplane and the hail suppression project. Flight Summary HS1: 1548-1612Z; no seeding; PR YC to Airdrie. HS1: 0448-0516Z; no seeding; PR Airdrie to YC.

No aircraft operations.

area. The rain lasted until 03Z and then another shortlived band of rain developed in the southern project around 06Z. A few lightning strikes detected in the southern project area. 22 max dBz. Tmax YC = 26.8 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 28.4 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 27.3 C and no rain. July 24, Friday High-pressure ridge remains located over AB. Lowpressure trough is approaching to the project area from the SW. Jet PVA core is crossing the Northern parts of BC and AB from the West to the East. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid with the weak cap on the low level. Very light rain showers in the morning in the SW corner of the project area from 15Z to 17Z. Otherwise, it was another beautiful sunny but hot day across the project. An area of rain formed in the west buffer south of Canmore during the late afternoon. 29 max dBz. Tmax YC = 29.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 31.0C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 28.8C and no rain. July 25, Saturday Broad ridge over western Canada with closed low lingering over eastern Washington. Upper jet over northern AB. Weak west of east orientated cold front moving into the northern project during the night hours. The atmosphere is unstable but very warm and has weak wind flow. Another sunny and hot afternoon with few clouds. First thundershower formed in the southern project around 07Z with more rain with embedded thundershowers moving into the south by 0830Z. This area of rain then moved into the eastern project area by 10Z. In the north, many short-lived thundershowers formed in the north buffer beginning around 08Z, with the most intense cell north of Rocky. This line of thundershowers slowly moved south towards Red Deer, and then diminished to just light rain by 11Z. Max titan cell= 10.5 km, 47 max dBz, 10.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 29.6C and no rain. Tmax QF = 31.1C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 29.6C and no rain. July 26, Sunday Ridge remains over BC and AB. Closed low is slowly moving towards the SE, centered over the ID panhandle. Upper jet well to the north and east of the project area. A weak cold front is making its way through the project area from north to south. The atmosphere is unstable but warming in late afternoon. Cloudy with some areas of rain in the morning and then a line of thundershowers developed in the Calgary area just before 16Z. This line moved out of the project area to the east by 19Z, and then from 20Z to 0230Z there were scattered showers and thundershowers in the western project regions. Max titan cell= 5.5 km, 47 max dBz, 4.6 max VIL.
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HS3 and HS4 both flew short test flights in the Red Deer area. Flight Summary HS3: 1904-1946Z; no seeding; test QF. HS4: 1911-2055Z; no seeding; test QF.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

Tmax YC = 24.2C and 0.8 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 24.9C and a trace of rain. Tmax Radar = 23.6C and no rain. July 27, Monday Ridge axis remains along the BC coast, but the influence is weakening in AB as northwesterly flow is increasing over the province. Surface high pressure is over southern AB. The atmosphere is only slightly unstable despite cooling aloft. Thundershowers over the mountains from 21Z until 06Z while the project area had only partly cloudy skies. An area of rain with some lightning moved into the Calgary area from the NW around 0430Z and then out of the southern project by 07Z. More rain moved into the north after 0930Z and moved southward through the project during the night. 46 max dBz, 3.2 max VIL. Tmax YC = 25.8C and 1.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 26.2C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 24.5C and no rain. July 28, Tuesday Ridge axis still along the BC coast, but the ridge is not influencing AB much today. North to south upper jet directly over AB giving strong northerly wind flow in the project area. The atmosphere is unstable and cooling. Light rain in the morning lasted until 17Z. After 1730Z, many scattered showers developed across the project and slowly moved from the north to the south. These scattered showers had mostly ended by 02Z. Another area of rain moved through the project from north to south between 03Z and 12Z overnight. 42 max dBz, 2.0 max VIL. Tmax YC = 20.5C and 0.8 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 20.8C and 3.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 19.1C and 0.8 mm of rain. July 29, Wednesday Northerly wind flow continues over AB with the strong ridge remaining along the BC coast. Upper jet located over NE AB. Surface high pressure over central and southern AB. The atmosphere is slightly unstable at low levels only. Showers over the foothills west of Calgary and south from 1630Z until 2230Z, but no rain in the project area. There were some weak radar echoes from virga in the far southern project in the mid afternoon. Many Cu and TCU over the project area. 20 max dBz. Tmax YC = 21.4C and 4.4 mm of rain from early morning. Tmax QF = 24.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.0C and no rain. July 30, Thursday Upper jet positioned over AB. A series of short wave trofs embedded within the northerly flow will move through the project during the afternoon. Also a cold front will move through from the north to the south. The atmosphere could become very unstable if upper cooling occurs with frontal passage. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. HS1 flew a test flight in the area between Cochrane and Cremona. Flight Summary HS1: 2030-2135Z; no seeding; test N Cochrane. No aircraft operations.

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Thundershowers formed over the foothills after 20Z and then drifted into the Calgary area after 2130Z. The cold front with a band of rain and some lightning entered the northern project area around 2230Z. Widespread rain covered almost all the project area from 00Z until 02Z, and then the rain moved out of the area to the south by 06Z. From the frontal passage there was a 35 knot wind gust at QF and 40 knot wind gust at the radar. 41 max dBz, 2.6 max VIL. Tmax YC = 26.1C and 3.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 24.8C and 4.2 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 23.8C and 3.2 mm of rain. July 31, Friday Upper jet has slid to the east and now over SK. The stationary ridge over BC is now building into AB again with surface high pressure just to the south of AB. The atmosphere is mostly stable from warming and is also drying. Stratus cloud deck over the north and central project area in the morning, mostly breaking up just before noon. A few TCU in the southern project in the late morning and then just fair weather Cu during the very nice and pleasant afternoon and evening. Tmax YC = 23.9C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 23.6C and no rain. August 01, Saturday Upper level closed low weakening over southern BC as it moves closer to AB. Short wave trof slides through the area this evening and overnight while a cold front moved southward through AB. The lower levels of the atmosphere are very moist with increasing instability. Scattered thundershowers formed across the project area beginning around 21Z. A stronger cell moved through Didsbury around 2240Z. The approaching cold front moved into the northern project around 23Z with a line of thunderstorms and moved SE through the project. The most intense cell on the line moved through Sylvan Lake and south Red Deer. This line of cells had left the project area to the east shortly after 01Z. Another thunder-shower formed on the NE side of Calgary around 0030Z. This cell strengthened into a bigger storm right over Strathmore at 0130Z. Areas of rain with embedded thunder remained in the project until 04Z. Pea to grape size hail (1.6 cm) was reported around Red Deer. Max titan cell= 12.5 km, 51 max dBz, 13.1 max VIL. The cold front also created very intense storms to the north of the project area. Wind gusts up to 100 km/hr were reported along with golf ball sized hail in Stony Plain. The front moved though Calgary around 02Z, with 42 kt wind gusts. Tmax YC = 31.7C and a trace of rain. Tmax QF = 31.3C and 11.4 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 29.2C and 7.8 mm of rain. August 02, Sunday Mid and upper level ridge is diminishing over AB with increasing NW flow. Surface boundary shifting south
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No aircraft operations.

HS3 was launched at 2234Z to patrol area W of Didsbury. At 2302Z HS3 was airborne. At 2321Z HS3 reported no seeding conditions and was redirected to RMH area. At 0003Z HS3 started cloud base seeding the line of the Titan cells NW of Sylwan Lake. At 0056Z HS3 stopped seeding and started to patrol area SE of Red Deer. At 0105Z HS3 RTB as the storms were leaving the project area but in order to return to QF, HS3 had to fly around the storms going all the way to Calgary and then back north on the west side of the line of cells. HS1 was launched at 0024Z to patrol area N of Calgary. At 0045Z HS1 was airborne and started to patrol area N of Strathmore. At 0208Z HS1 RTB. Flight Summary HS3: 2248-0206Z; 15 BIP, #1 Sylwan Lake to Red Deer, #2 Innisfail. HS1: 0030-0230Z, patrol N of Strathmore.

HS4 was launched at 2203Z to patrol area N of Sundre. At 2226Z

through the project over the afternoon and evening along with a developing trof near the foothills. Moisture is moving into the mid and low levels producing a quite unstable atmosphere. The first thunderstorm formed south of Rocky around 2130Z and moved southeast through Innisfail by 2330Z. A second storm formed northwest of Rocky after 23Z, but had diminished to a weak thundershower before reaching QF at 01Z. Scattered thundershowers then developed across the northern project area during the evening. The third storm of the day had developed west of Drayton Valley in the late evening and moved SSE entering the northern project area shortly after 05Z. This very severe storm quickly moved SSE through the entire project area. The storm was propagating at speeds between 75 and 85 km/hr, passing Sundre around 0655Z, Carstairs at 0730Z, the NE corner of Calgary at 0755Z, and then out of the project area south of Strathmore at 0830Z. This storm produced lots of damage across the project area, mostly due to the 100 km/hr wind gusts. Environment Canada did receive a report of baseballsized hail near Rocky Mountain House. Max titan cell= 12.5 km, 55 max dBz, 15.7 max VIL. Tmax YC = 28.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.5C and 3.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 25.1C and 21 mm of rain.

HS4 was airborne. At 2245Z HS4 started cloud base seeding storm #1 NW of Innisfail. At 2328Z HS4 stopped seeding storm #1 and was directed to the area S of RMH. At 0045Z HS4 started cloud base seeding storm #2 W of Sylvan Lake. At 0054Z HS4 stopped seeding storm #2 and RTB. HS3 was launched at 0555Z to storm #3 over RMH. At 0618Z HS3 was airborne. At 0641Z HS3 started seeding storm #3, a line of Titan cells N of Sundre. HS3 continued seeding storm #3 as it moved SSE through the project area until 0838Z when HS3 stopped seeding S of Strathmore and RTB. HS2 was launched at 0722Z to storm #3 approaching Airdrie. At 0736Z HS3 was airborne. At 0739Z HS2 started cloud base seeding the eastern cell of the storm #3 cluster. At 0838Z HS2 stopped seeding S of Strathmore and RTB. Flight Summary HS4: 2200-0104Z; 11 BIP, 97 min acetone generator time; #1 Innisfail, #2 RMH. HS3: 0605-0937Z; 97 EJT, 17 BIP, #3 Sundre-Strathmore. HS2: 0727-0928Z; 9 BIP, 122 min acetone generator time; #3 AirdrieStrathmore.

August 03, Monday

Upper level jet moving over central AB with a trof developing through northern AB to southern BC. Surface low near the southeast BC corner. The atmosphere is saturated and slightly unstable in the southern project areas. A thunderstorm formed over the mountains west of High River after 2030Z, but moved SE away from the project area. Scattered, weak thundershowers developed across the project beginning around 2330Z, and then weakening to more areas of light rain with a few strokes of lightning by 03Z. 44 max dBz, 4.5 max VIL. Tmax YC = 18.6C and 14.4 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 16.8C and 17.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 15.0C and 8.0 mm of rain.

No aircraft operations.

August 04, Tuesday

Upper low moving through northern SK and MB with trof extending to the west. Upper level jet tail end near Calgary and PVA in southern AB today. Nearly stationary surface low over SE corner of BC. Mostly cloudy and cool day. Widespread area of rain over the southern half of the project area in the morning
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No aircraft operations.

and then moved southward with rain only in the far southern project regions in the afternoon. Overnight, more rain developed in the southern and central project then moved into the northern project area. 37 max dBz. Tmax YC = 11.9C and 17.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 13.5C and 9.4 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 11.5C and 1.6 mm of rain. August 05, Wednesday Main upper level trof digging through AB and BC with a weak short wave trof moving through southern AB. Surface high moving into SK while surface low is weakening over eastern WA. The atmosphere is stable with mid level moisture advecting into the area. Another cloudy and cool day. Light rain in the northern project in the morning with light drizzle across the rest of the project as the lower atmosphere was completely saturated. The light rain ended by 22Z but more bands of rain with embedded thunder and lightning moved through during the evening and night hours. 35 max dBz. Tmax YC = 12.3 C and 5.8 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 12.3 C and 6.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 12.3 C and 5.6 mm of rain. August 06, Thursday Low-pressure trough is located over AB. Surface Highpressure center has formed over BC. Positive vorticity maximum is located over the northern part of the project area. Jet PVA core is crossing SK and MB from the NW to the SE. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid. Cloudy and cool conditions continued in the morning with a few showers in the northern and eastern project regions lasting until 1730Z. In the afternoon, dryer air moved in from the NW resulting in slowly clearing skies. 35 max dBz. Tmax YC = 16.0 C and 3.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 17.9 C and 0.2 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 16.8 C and 1.0 mm rain. August 07, Friday Low-pressure trough has moved to the east and now it is located over SK. High-pressure ridge has formed over BC and AB. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid in the low levels. Mostly sunny and nice day across the project area. Scattered fair weather Cu developed during the afternoon with a few Ac and Ci clouds. Tmax YC = 19.3 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 19.5 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 19.0 C and no rain. August 08, Saturday High-pressure ridge is located over AB and SK. Surface High-pressure center remains located over the project area. Jet PVA core is approaching to the project area from the west. The atmosphere is slightly unstable with a small cap at the 700 mb level. Sunny and nice afternoon across the project area.
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Public Relations: CTV Calgary filmed Lead Pilot Bob Gorman at the Calgary airport discussing the recent storm activity. No aircraft operations.

Public Relations: CHCA News from Red Deer conducted a phone interview of Chief Meteorologist Jason Goehring regarding the recent storm activity. No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

Thundershowers formed over the foothills during the afternoon but had diminished into light rain before moving into the NW project regions. More areas of light rain moved through the north and central project overnight. 38 max dBz. Tmax YC = 22.9 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24.1 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 23.4 C and trace of rain. August 09, Sunday Surface Low-pressure center has formed SW of Alberta. Low level Low-pressure trough is located over the project area. Jet PVA core is approaching towards Alberta from the west. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Thunderstorms developed over the foothills beginning around 19Z but most diminished before moving into the project area. The one which continued through the project area began forming W of Cremona around 20Z. At 22Z the storm was just past Cremona and had begun tracking ESE towards Airdrie. The storm moved out of the project area north of Strathmore around 01Z. Max titan cell= 10.5 km, 51 max dBz, 12.2 max VIL. Environment Canada reported nickel (2.2 cm) to quarter (2.5 cm) sized hail east of Airdrie. Tmax YC = 24.2 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24.4 C and 0.2 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 22.6 C and 2.4 mm of rain. HS4 was launched at 2122Z towards storm #1 and was airborne at 2135Z. At 2205Z HS4 began seeding at base along the E side of the storm, about 10nm ESE of Cremona. HS4 continued seeding until 2331Z and RTB to QF as they were out of on-station time. HS1 was launched at 2237Z and was airborne at 2302Z. HS1 began seeding storm #1 at cloud top at 2316Z near Airdrie. HS1 stopped seeding storm #1 at 0100Z and RTB as the storm was leaving the project area. HS2 was launched at 0024Z towards storm #1 as it was nearing Strathmore and was airborne at 0042Z. HS2 found no suitable conditions on the storm. At 0100Z they were redirected to patrol the W buffer zone for any new development. At 0131Z HS2 RTB with no new growth in the area. Flight Summary HS4: 2130-0025Z; 18 BIP, 170 min acetone generator time; #1 Cremona-Airdrie. HS1: 2250-0120Z; 191 EJ, 4 BIP; #1 Airdrie-Strathmore. HS2: 0034-0204Z; no seeding; patrol E Calgary, patrol N Cochrane. August 10, Monday Weak short wave Low-pressure trough has formed over the Northern part of the project area. Strong Jet PVA core is located over AB province. The atmosphere is slightly unstable and humid with a small cap at 700 mb level. A Chinook cloud formed over the project area providing a nice afternoon and evening. Light rain developed in the north project around 09Z and then in the west around 12Z running from Banff to the NE through Ponoka by Tuesday morning. 30 max dBz. Tmax YC = 25.2 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.0 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 25.0 C and trace of rain.
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No aircraft operations.

August 11, Tuesday

Surface Low-pressure center has formed over the project area. Cold front is crossing the Southern part of Alberta from the SW to the NE and slowly moving to the east. Jet PVA core is located over AB and SK. The atmosphere is unstable and humid. Cloudy with rain in the morning and had moved out of the area to the east by 2230Z. At 23Z, Storm #1 developed north of the NW corner of the project area. Around 00Z, the storm entered the north buffer NE of Rocky. At 0142Z, the storm was just south of Lacombe. By 0230Z the storm had moved out of the project area. Max titan cell= 10.5 km, 51 max dBz, 14.0 max VIL. Jim Renick reported golf ball sized hail at the DOW plant SE of Lacombe. Environment Canada reported loonie size hail (2.7 cm). Tmax YC = 19.7C and 1.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 20.5C and 4.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 20.9C and 0.9 mm of rain.

HS4 was launched at 0105Z and was airborne at 0124Z. HS4 began seeding Storm #1 at 0133Z just N of Sylvan Lake and continued seeding until 0216Z when the storm had passed E of QE2. HS4 was then redirected to the W to patrol an area of showers developing to the W of Sylvan. At 0307Z they RTB as the showers were iced out. Flight Summary HS4: 0113-0324Z; 10 BIP, 86 min acetone generator time; #1 Lacombe.

August 12, Wednesday

Wide upper jet over southern portions of western Canada. Upper low along the northern AB/SK border is weakening trof over BC is pushing into the area. A cold front is moving through the project area in the late afternoon. The atmosphere is cooling and unstable. First showers formed in the NW project area just before 18Z. More areas of rain and weak thundershowers developed in the northwest and southern project regions after 1930Z. Scattered thundershowers remained until 0330Z with the areas of rain ending by 09Z. Pea size hail reported east of Olds. Max titan cell= 8.5 km, 46 max dBz, 5.5 max VIL. Tmax YC = 22.2C and no rain. Tmax QF = 22.2C and 0.8 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 19.9C and 2.1 mm of rain.

No aircraft operations.

August 13, Thursday

Upper jet has now pushed off to the east of the project area. Closed low is along the BC/WA border with PVA moving through the project area. Surface high pressure centered in northern AB helping create northeasterly, upslope flow in the southern AB. The atmosphere is only slightly unstable and saturated. Cloudy and cool day. A few areas of rain around the north and central project area in the morning with more rain moving into southern project area after 2030Z. This rain area increased in coverage during the late afternoon and was widespread by 01Z and then lasted through the night. 31 max dBz. Tmax YC = 13.4C and 6.6 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 14.2C and 0.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 12.3C and 17.6 mm of rain.

No aircraft operations.

August 14, Friday

Tail end of upper jet to the just to the east of the area. Strong low centered over the northern ID panhandle and spinning PVA and moisture up into AB. Surface high in central AB with continued low level northeasterly, upslope flow. The atmosphere is saturated and only
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Public Relations: 3 individuals from AXA insurance visited the Olds radar site and spent time talking with the meteorologists, learning about the cloud seeding

slightly unstable. Another cloudy and cool day. Areas of rain and drizzle in the morning ended by mid afternoon, with some weak thundershowers near Vulcan in the east buffer in the early afternoon. More rain moved into the project from the east during the evening and lasted through the night. The mountains received some snowfall from this cold system. 37 max dBz. Tmax YC = 11.4C and 3.6 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 10.7C and 11.6 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 9.7C and 3.4 mm of rain. August 15, Saturday North to south orientated jet along the BC/AB border. The strong low is positioned over SE AB with a ridge along the BC coast. Slight upslope flow continues on the backside of the low along with some weak PVAS in the project area. The atmosphere is slightly unstable at low levels. Thick cloud coverage in the east and southern project regions for the morning and most of the afternoon with associated light rain ending in the project area by 20Z. Scattered showers formed over the foothills beginning after 21Z and some moved into the western project area during the evening hours. 36 max dBz. Tmax YC = 13.8C and 5.0 mm of rain. Tmax QF = 16.4C and 1.4 mm of rain. Tmax Radar = 15.1C and no rain. August 16, Sunday North to south upper jet is positioned just to the west of the project area. Closed low is over southeast SK with weak short wave trofs passing through the project during the afternoon. The atmosphere is warming but still slight unstable. Light rain in the southern project in the morning. Numerous, scattered, short-lived thundershowers developed across the project area from 1730Z until 0130Z. 44 max dBz, 2.7 max VIL. Tmax YC = 17.8C and a trace rain. Tmax QF = 18.5C and a trace rain. Tmax Radar = 17.1C and 0.4 mm of rain. August 17, Monday Strong upper level jet over northern BC has flattened the ridge, with surface Low over southern MB and NW flow over AB. Several s/w trofs moving thru the project area today. Lower levels are unstable with subsidence around 23kft. Mix of mid and upper level clouds during the afternoon, evening and lingering overnight. A band of light rain and virga developed around sunrise in the northeastern project region. 26 max dBz. Tmax YC = 24.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.6C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 23.2C and no rain.
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project. Thick, low cloud cover over the area prevented an airplane from landing at the OldsDidsbury airport for the insurance group tour. No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

HS3 patrol flight over Olds. Flight Summary HS3: 1846-2001Z; no seeding; patrol Olds.

No aircraft operations.

August 18, Tuesday

Strong, 100+kt jet over AB thru the period, along with moderate PVA around northern and eastern AB. Surface Low dropping into central/southern SK today with weak cold front trailing thru the project area. Atmosphere is fairly unstable thru the evening hours. Thunderstorms in the Northern and central project areas nd during the afternoon, then a 2 wave of storms moved thru the W-central and southern areas during the evening. Scattered light showers overnight, mainly in the S and NE project areas. Storm #1 formed in the northern buffer area near Rocky and began tracking towards Sylvan Lake by 20Z. The storm was over Innisfail at 2030Z and continued heading SE out of the project area by 22Z, south of Three Hills. 2.0 cm hail was reported in Innisfail. Max titan cell= 8.5 km, 53 max dBz, 9.0 max VIL. Tmax YC = 25.0C and 3.6 mm rain Tmax QF = 22.6C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.9C and 0.3 mm rain.

HS4 was launched at 2009Z to NW of Innisfail. At 2025Z HS4 was airborne. At 2035Z HS4 started cloud base seeding storm #1 over Innisfail. At 2100Z HS4 stopped seeding and started patrolling area SE of Innisfail. At 2128Z HS4 RTB. Flight Summary HS4: 2016-2145Z, 7 BIP, 56 min acetone generator time; #1 Innisfail.

August 19, Wednesday

Ridge building over BC today moving into AB tonight with surface High Pressure over the Rockies. Atmosphere is dry and stable with NVA into the project area thru the period. Very nice day with Sc, Ac, Cu, and Ci clouds during the afternoon, diminishing by sunset. Tmax YC = 21.7C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 20.8C and no rain.

Public Relations: A group of 11 individuals from AXA insurance visited the Olds radar site and spent time talking with pilots and meteorologists, learning about the cloud seeding project. All had a good time! HS2 flew from YC to Olds and HS3 flew from QF to Olds for the AXA insurance visit to the radar site. Flight Summary HS3: 1659-1732Z; no seeding; QF to Olds. HS2: 1758-1850Z; no seeding; YC to Olds. HS3: 2141-2202Z; no seeding; Olds to QF. HS2: 2146-2217Z; no seeding; Olds to YC.

August 20, Thursday

Upper level ridge moving thru AB today with surface High pressure moving into SK. Mid levels remain warm, with some cold air advection into the project area beginning overnight but the atmosphere is stable thru the period. Another nice day, except a little breezy, across the project with only a few Cu and Ci clouds. Tmax YC = 22.9C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.5C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.2C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

August 21, Friday

Upper level trof developing over BC with surface Lowpressure system moving thru AB. Some PVA into the project area late this afternoon. The atmosphere is very unstable in the north. Around 0130Z, thundershowers began moving into the NW project and continued moving thru the northern
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HS4 was launched at 0303Z towards storm #1, and was airborne at 0316Z. HS4 began base seeding at 0324Z near Sylvan Lake. HS4 stopped seeding storm #1 at 0340Z and immediately started seeding storm

project area until 07Z. Overnight, more thunderstorms developed in western B.C. but were not sustained past the Banff area. Storm #1 developed near Caroline shortly after 02Z. The storm moved eastward, reaching the Sylvan Lake area just after 03Z. The storm diminished over northeast of Red Deer by 0330Z. Storm #2 developed southeast of Caroline around 0230Z, to the south of Storm #1. The storm passed thru the Red Deer airport around 04Z, then just passing south of Red Deer city limits. By 05Z, the storm was out of the project area. Storm #3 developed around 0430Z near Cremona but diminished as it moved thru the Didsbury area around 05Z. Barry Robinson reported nickel size (2.2 cm) hail at Penhold from storm #2. Environment Canada reported quarter to golf ball size hail from storm #2. Max titan cell= 12.5km, 53 max dBz, 14.2 max VIL. Tmax YC = 30.9C and no rain. Tmax QF = 27.2C and 12.4 mm Tmax Radar = 26.8C and 1.6 mm August 22, Saturday Upper level Low over BC with broad trof over BC and AB with jet max nosing into the western project area. The atmosphere is cooling, with some moisture lingering thru the mid levels. Soundings show more stability in the south and slightly unstable in the north. Clear skies thru the afternoon with only some Ci and very few CU. Mid and upper level clouds forming overnight. Tmax YC = 23.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 22.3C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.1C and no rain. August 23, Sunday Closed low moving through northern AB with mid and upper level trof axis rotating through the project. Upper jet max over southern AB with strong vorticity max in the northern project. Cold air advection continues and the atmosphere is fairly unstable. Thick cloud cover in the northern project area kept temperatures much lower than the southern project area. A cold front moved through from north to south creating scattered showers to thundershowers behind the front. The first showers formed in the NW project around 20Z, then in the central regions by 22Z and the south after 23Z, all ending by 01Z. Max titan cell= 7.5 km, 48 max dBz, 4.9 max VIL. Tmax YC = 23.4 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 14.9 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 17.6 C and no rain. August 24, Monday High-pressure ridge has formed over BC and AB. The ridges axis is located over the border between BC and AB and moving slowly to the east. Surface Highpressure center is located over the project area. The atmosphere is stable and dry.
100

#2 just to the south near QF. (HS4 seeded storm #2 with acetone generators due to a mechanical problem with the BIP control box switch.) HS4 stopped seeding storm #2 at 0428Z as the storm was past Red Deer. HS4 started seeding storm #3 at 0458Z near Didsbury. HS4 stopped seeding storm #3 at 0510Z and RTB, as the storm had diminished. Flight Summary HS4: 0303-0535Z, 158 min acetone generator time; Storm #1 Sylvan Lake, #2 QF, #3 Didsbury.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

Very nice day with hardly any clouds in the sky. Tmax YC = 22.2 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 22.1 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 22.2C and no rain. August 25, Tuesday High-pressure ridge continues to move to the east. The ridges axis is located over SK. Weak short wave trough is approaching the project area from the NW. Surface Low-pressure center is located over the southern part of AB. The atmosphere is unstable but sufficiently dry. Nice afternoon under a Chinook arc cloud. A band of light rain developed around 03Z in the northwest project area and lingered until 0530Z. 22 max dBz. Tmax YC = 27.0 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24.8 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 26.1C and no rain. August 26, Wednesday High-pressure ridge is located over SK. Low-pressure trough has formed over the western part of AB. Surface High-pressure center is approaching the project area from the west. The atmosphere is unstable over the northern project area. Showers started developing around Limestone mountain after 22Z. Most diminished within a half hour over the foothills but a few moved into the far western project area before diminishing completely. 42 max dBz, 3.4 max VIL. Tmax YC = 22.1 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 22.2 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.8 C and no rain. August 27, Thursday Strong High-pressure ridge has formed over BC and AB. The ridges axis is located over the border between BC and AB and moving to the east slowly. Surface Highpressure center remains located west of the project area. The atmosphere is stable. Sunny and nice day with very few clouds. Only clouds reported were Cu, Ac and Ci. Tmax YC = 25.0 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 25.1 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 24.9 C and no rain. August 28, Friday High-pressure ridge still moving to the east over the western part of Canada. The ridges axis is located over the border between AB and SK. Surface High-pressure center remains located over the project area. The atmosphere is stable and dry. Another nice day with only a few Ac, Cu and Ci clouds reported. Very hazy and smoky across the area from forest fires. Tmax YC = 27.8 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 27.3 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 26.9 C and no rain. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations.

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August 29, Saturday

High-pressure ridge is located over the western part of Canada. Surface High-pressure center remains located over the project area. The atmosphere is unstable but very dry with a strong cap at the low level. Third beautiful day in a row with only Ci and Ac clouds. Tmax YC = 26.7C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.9C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 26.3C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

August 30, Sunday

Upper jet is well to the north of the project area. Highpressure ridge still in place over western Canada. Weak PVA is in southern AB, but the atmosphere is stable, very dry and strongly Capped. Another very nice day with only Ac, As, and Ci clouds. Tmax YC = 26.3C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 25.7C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

August 30, Monday

Broad ridge still in place over western Canada, but the axis is slowly drifting eastward. The atmosphere is slightly unstable, but strongly Capped. Another nice and warm day across the area. Ac, Ci, Sc, and Cu clouds reported. Tmax YC = 29.4C and no rain. Tmax QF = 27.6C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 29.2C and no rain.

No aircraft operations.

September 01, Tuesday

Ridge axis has re-developed over AB. Surface high pressure located to the NW of the project. The atmosphere is unstable but still Capped in the project area. Another nice, sunny day in the project area with Ac, Ci, Sc and Cu clouds. Meanwhile, big thunderstorms existed over the mountains from 2030Z until 0530Z, but did not move into the project area due to the Cap and weak wind flow. Tmax YC = 28.6C and no rain. Tmax QF = 28.4C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 28.3C and no rain.

HS1 and HS2 both flew test flights from YC to QF in the morning and then returned to YC in the afternoon. Flight Summary HS1: 1651-1738Z; no seeding; test YC to QF. HS2: 1728-1800Z; no seeding; test YC to QF. HS1: 1921-2005Z; no seeding; test QF to YC. HS2: 1924-2023Z; no seeding; test QF to YC. HS3 and HS4 both flew short test flights near QF. Flight Summary HS4: 1819-1905Z; no seeding; test QF. HS3: 1827-1915Z; no seeding; test QF.

September 02, Wednesday

Broad ridge over the Canadian prairies but a short wave trof is cutting through the ridge in central AB. The atmosphere is unstable, but warm and fairly dry. Another nice day again across the project with Ac, Ci, Cu and Cf clouds reported. One little shower formed near Limestone mountain at 1945Z and moved into the project area before diminishing completely at 2020Z. 21 max dBz. Tmax YC = 29.6C and no rain. Tmax QF = 27.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 29.2C and no rain.

September 03, Thursday

Upper low in southeast BC moving through the project area during the evening hours. Strong PVA ahead of the

No aircraft operations.

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low moving through during the afternoon along with a cold front. The atmosphere is unstable but slightly Capped. Strong, gusty winds started in the project area around 1930Z and lasted until 01Z, kicking up lots of dust in open areas. A band of rain moved across the mountains from BC and entered the project area around 22Z. There was some lightning within the rain band in the northern project area and then had moved out by 0030Z. Scattered areas of light rain remained until 04Z and then some more rain moved through the northern project from 08Z to 14Z. 40 max dBz, 2.7 max VIL. Tmax YC = 30.2C and a trace of rain. Tmax QF = 30.6C and a trace of rain. Tmax Radar = 30.0C and a trace of rain. September 04, Friday Closed low in central SK, cutting through the broad ridge pattern over the Canadian prairies. Some PVA lingers over the northern project through the afternoon. The atmosphere is stable with a cap and high-pressure subsidence around 12 kft. Isolated area of virga to light rain in the NW around 21Z, then Ci, Cu and Ac clouds the rest of the afternoon, diminishing during the evening. 17 max dBz. Tmax YC = 24.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 23.4C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.8C and no rain. September 05, Saturday Deep closed Low off Canadian and US West coast moving into SW BC. Mid level moisture advection this afternoon but the lower levels remain dry. Strong PVA into the project area ahead of the Low moving thru B.C. Atmosphere is stable thru the lower and mid levels with a strong cap diminishing slightly overnight. Breezy and mostly cloudy afternoon. Virga from stratus cloud deck in the southern project began around 00Z with light rain starting after 02Z and then diminished during the night hours. 25 max dBz. Tmax YC = 23.2C and a trace of rain. Tmax QF = 23.2C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.9C and no rain. September 06, Sunday Low-pressure system moving thru BC, with SFC Low and trof over the project area this afternoon. Strong PVA thru the project area this afternoon and evening, but right-exit region of the upper jet is near the project area as well. The atmosphere is mostly stable with a stronger cap in the south project. Isolated, weak thundershower near QF and Innisfail until ~20Z, then mostly to partly cloudy the remainder of the day. Brief clearing overnight, then light rain and virga developing in the northern and central project area around sunrise. 45 max dBz, 2.3 max VIL. Tmax YC = 22.0C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.7C and 0.4 mm
103

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

No aircraft operations.

Tmax Radar = 21.8C and no rain. September 07, Monday Upper Low moving through Northern AB with upper level jet to the south and east of the project. Weak PVA along the foothills and central AB this afternoon, along with a weak SFC trof moving thru the project area. Lower levels are drying with dew points dropping into low single and minus digits thru the period. The atmosphere is slightly unstable in the north thru the afternoon. A few areas of light rain in the northern project throughout the afternoon. A weak, isolated thundershower developed over Carseland around 00Z and drifted eastward out of the project area. 38 max dBz, 2.6 max VIL. Tmax YC = 18.1C and no rain. Tmax QF = 18.6C and trace Tmax Radar = 18.1C and trace September 08, Tuesday Upper Low slowly moving NE out of AB as ridge develops over BC and AB. Strong warm air advection thru the mid levels with weak PVA into the project area. The atmosphere is stable with a strong CAP and the lower levels remain dry. Small band of virga moved through the northern and central project in the morning. Scattered fair Cu thru the afternoon with some partial clearing around sunset then mostly clear overnight. 13 max dBz. Tmax YC = 19.3C and no rain. Tmax QF = 20.9C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 20.1C and no rain. September 09, Wednesday Upper level trof moving thru AB today and tonight with dissipating SFC Low pressure system moving thru the project area. Strong PVA forecast to target the project area between overnight with some mid-level moisture. Lower levels remain fairly dry. Virga and sprinkles from a thick, stratus cloud deck around the central project area, lasting thru the evening. Partial clearing overnight, with isolated light rain developing in the northern project late overnight and into the south by Thursday morning. 35 max dBz. Tmax YC = 21.8C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.3C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 19.9C and a trace of rain. Public Relations: Seven people from AXA Insurance visited the Olds radar site and spent time talking with pilots and meteorologists, learning about the cloud seeding project. HS1 and HS2 flew from YC to Olds in the morning for the group tour and then retuned to YC in the afternoon. Flight Summary HS1: 1738-1804; no seeding; YC to Olds. HS2: 1741-1812; no seeding; YC to Olds. HS1: 2125-2212; no seeding; YC to Olds. HS2: 2135-2207; no seeding; YC to Olds. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations.

September 10, Thursday

Upper level ridge building over BC with SFC High pressure developing along AB/BC border. Strong warm air advection at mid levels but still cool and dry thru the lower levels. The atmosphere is very stable. A beautiful day in the project area, with only Ac, Ci, Cu and Cf clouds.

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Tmax YC = 19.1C and no rain. Tmax QF =18.9C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 17.9C and no rain. September 11, Friday High-pressure ridge remains located over the Western part of Canada. Surface High-pressure center has formed over the project area. Jet PVA core is located N of AB. The atmosphere is very stable and dry. A nice day again except for being a bit breezy. Only a trace of Ci clouds. Tmax YC = 23.8 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24.5 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 23.5 C and no rain. September 12, Saturday High-pressure ridge remains located over the Western part of Canada. Weak short wave trough is located over AB. Surface High-pressure center is located over the border between BC and AB. The atmosphere is very stable and dry. Hardly a cloud in the sky, only a trace of Ci. Windy during the morning and afternoon again. Tmax YC = 26.6C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.8C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 26.2C and no rain. September 13, Sunday High-pressure ridge still dominating the weather over the Western part of Canada. Surface High-pressure center remains located over the project area. Upper level Lowpressure center is located to the south of AB. The atmosphere is stable and dry. A very nice day with only Ci and a few Cu clouds. Tmax YC = 23.5 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 24.5 C and no rain. Tmax Radar =23.4 C and no rain. September 14, Monday High-pressure ridge has moved to the East and now its axis is located over MB. Upper level Low-pressure center is located over the border between AB and SK. The atmosphere is stable and dry. A nice afternoon with only Cu, Ac and Ci clouds. Weak thundershowers over the mountains during the evening hours and moved into the Caroline area overnight as a small area of light rain. 33 max dBz. Tmax YC = 22.7 C and no rain. Tmax QF = 21.8 C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 21.7 C and no rain. September 15, Tuesday The next High-pressure ridge has formed over BC and AB. Surface High-pressure center is located over the project area. Strong jet PVA core is crossing the Western part of BC from the South to the North. The atmosphere is slightly unstable with a cap at the 700 mb level. Another beautiful day across the project area to end the Public Relations: Two people from Western Financial Group Insurance visited the Olds radar site and spent time talking with pilots and meteorologists, learning about the cloud seeding project. HS3 flew from QF to Olds for the No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations. No aircraft operations.

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2009 season. Only clouds reported were Cu, Ci, Sc, and Ac. Tmax YC = 26.5C and no rain. Tmax QF = 26.5C and no rain. Tmax Radar = 26.1C and no rain.

tour at the radar and then continued to YC. Flight Summary HS3: 1734-1804; PR QF to Olds. HS3: 2032-2059; PR Olds to YC.

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C.

AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS / FLIGHT SUMMARY TABLE 2009

ALBERTA HAIL SUPPRESSION PROJECT 2009

Last Updated: 9/17/2009

MONTHLY FLIGHT TIME TOTAL:

HS1 HS2 HS3 HS4

HailStop #1 - N234K HailStop #2- N457DM HailStop #3- N911FG HailStop #4- N123KK

TOTALS Date (UTC) 02-Jun-09 02-Jun-09 02-Jun-09 02-Jun-09 09-Jun-09 09-Jun-09 09-Jun-09 09-Jun-09 10-Jun-09 10-Jun-09 10-Jun-09 10-Jun-09 14-Jun-09 17-Jun-09 18-Jun-09 19-Jun-09 19-Jun-09 19-Jun-09 25-Jun-09 25-Jun-09 25-Jun-09 25-Jun-09 29-Jun-09 30-Jun-09 04-Jul-09 04-Jul-09 04-Jul-09 05-Jul-09 05-Jul-09 05-Jul-09 05-Jul-09 06-Jul-09 07-Jul-09 08-Jul-09 08-Jul-09 09-Jul-09 09-Jul-09 10-Jul-09 10-Jul-09 11-Jul-09 12-Jul-09 12-Jul-09 16-Jul-09 17-Jul-09 19-Jul-09 21-Jul-09 21-Jul-09

Season Total AUGUST SEPTEMBER Season Total MONTHLY FLARE USAGE: JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER 4:30 2:44 21:30 BIP 5 18 4 0 27 HS1 31:11 250 4:54 2:34 EJECT 59 0 191 0 24:02 65 8:59 1:45 BIP 17 39 9 0 12:11 0:46 32:37 0 0 0 0 0 HS2 EJECT 357 109:20 BURNERS 14 221 122 0 CURRENT CHEMICAL & FLARE INVENTORY 48 BIP 1 15 32 0 HS3 BIP EJECT SOLUTION EJECT 9 95 97 0 201 YYC 97 430 5374 75 BIP 14 37 46 0 HS4 EJECT YQF 0 169 1206 56 0 0 0 0 Starting Inventory: 599 6580 131 BURNERS 142 289 567 0 998 Current Inventory: 362 6129 Total used: 237 451 1355 min Storm-Day Sub-Totals # Flights: 81 109:20 87:03 451 237 1355 Total Time Total EJ Total BIP Total Burner JUNE 6:12 8:32 4:25 8:25 JULY 8:04 15:11 8:53 11:15 Engine On Engine Off Total Time Take-Off Time Landing Time (UTC) (UTC) (hh:mm) (UTC) (UTC) 22:18 22:25 22:25 22:50 17:02 17:21 21:37 21:38 4:20 19:21 20:57 19:54 0:45 20:26 21:08 2:00 18:25 18:27 20:26 20:28 23:55 23:56 22:29 22:49 21:40 22:05 23:28 1:06 1:58 22:10 23:24 19:05 21:45 18:24 20:47 18:29 23:32 1:31 20:10 22:58 21:30 21:56 21:15 0:02 20:17 17:18 19:40 23:41 23:40 23:31 0:15 17:49 17:55 22:11 22:09 5:07 19:57 21:18 21:21 2:09 21:46 23:03 2:55 19:05 19:36 21:13 21:14 0:43 1:01 0:38 2:39 0:33 22:47 2:09 2:50 3:22 22:37 1:13 19:52 23:19 20:30 22:13 19:23 1:09 1:54 20:58 1:10 1:25 23:47 22:51 3:06 23:39 18:00 20:05 1:23 1:15 1:06 1:25 0:47 0:34 0:34 0:31 0:47 0:36 0:21 1:27 1:24 1:20 1:55 0:55 0:40 1:09 0:47 0:46 0:48 1:05 2:09 3:50 2:53 0:42 2:41 1:44 1:24 0:27 1:49 0:47 1:34 2:06 1:26 0:54 1:37 0:23 0:48 2:12 3:55 1:51 1:36 3:04 3:22 0:42 0:25 22:47 22:38 22:45 23:05 17:27 17:26 21:41 21:50 4:30 19:35 21:05 20:06 0:50 20:36 21:23 2:09 18:35 18:36 20:37 20:42 0:11 0:20 22:38 23:00 21:50 22:15 23:37 1:11 2:10 22:20 23:33 19:17 21:54 18:30 20:59 18:36 23:40 1:36 20:29 23:10 21:39 22:05 21:21 0:07 20:22 17:32 19:50 23:29 23:30 23:26 0:00 17:44 17:51 22:01 22:06 5:02 19:54 21:14 21:17 2:00 21:40 22:55 2:50 19:00 19:27 21:05 21:06 0:38 0:56 0:24 2:37 0:26 22:39 2:05 2:46 3:18 22:31 1:08 19:47 23:08 20:18 22:08 19:19 1:06 1:50 20:53 1:04 1:20 23:40 22:47 3:00 23:32 17:55 20:02 Air Time Burner Flight EJ (#) BIP (#) (hh:mm) Minutes Type 0:42 0:52 0:41 0:55 0:17 0:25 0:20 0:16 0:32 0:19 0:09 1:11 1:10 1:04 1:32 0:41 0:25 0:51 0:28 0:24 0:27 0:36 1:46 3:37 2:36 0:24 2:28 1:35 1:08 0:11 1:35 0:30 1:14 1:48 1:09 0:43 1:26 0:14 0:24 1:54 3:41 1:35 1:26 2:53 3:10 0:23 0:12 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 0 58 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 49 0 0 0 39 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 16 15 0 5 6 0 0 2 0 5 13 3 0 8 0 0 0 23 0 0 8 21 0 0 0 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 136 0 103 0 0 48 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 241 0 0 0 118 0 0 Test Test Test Test PR PR PR PR Test Test Test Patrol Seed Patrol Patrol Patrol Test Patrol PR PR PR PR Seed Seed Seed Patrol Seed Seed Patrol Patrol Seed Patrol Seed Seed Seed PR Seed PR PR Patrol Seed Patrol Patrol Seed Seed Test Test

Seeding hours: Patrol hours:

TOTAL TIME AIR TIME 57:06 51:23 20:30 16:22

30 Seed Amount Seed Seed Amount (Per Flight) Accumulation (Per Day) # Storms (Grams) (Grams) (Grams) 170 170 654 0 167 337 0 150 487 0 167 654 0 0 654 0 0 0 654 0 0 654 0 0 654 0 0 654 180 0 60 714 0 120 834 0 0 834 0 1760 2594 1760 1 0 2594 0 0 0 2594 0 0 0 2594 0 23 2617 23 0 0 2617 0 0 2617 0 0 0 2617 0 0 2617 0 0 2617 0 2339 4956 2339 1 2400 7356 2400 2 2544 9900 5312 3 0 9900 0 1730 11630 2 1037 12667 1 0 12667 0 0 12667 1080 0 1080 13747 1 0 13747 0 0 750 14497 750 1 1950 16447 2400 1 450 16897 1 0 16897 1340 0 1340 18237 1 0 18237 0 0 18237 0 0 0 18237 0 0 4139 22376 4139 2 0 22376 0 0 22376 1200 0 1200 23576 1 3487 27063 3487 1 0 27063 0 0 0 27063 0 Captain Bob Gorman Jeff Allen Zac Glass Joel Zimmer Bob Gorman Joel Zimmer Bob Gorman Joel Zimmer Zac Glass Marcus Stevenson Marcus Stevenson Jeff Allen Bob Gorman Jeff Allen Joel Zimmer Bob Gorman Jeff Allen Bob Gorman Zac Glass Joel Zimmer Zac Glass Joel Zimmer Joel Zimmer Jeff Allen Jeff Allen Bob Gorman Marcus Stevenson Joel Zimmer Jeff Allen Jeff Allen Zac Glass Zac Glass Bob Gorman Bob Gorman Jeff Allen Zac Glass Zac Glass Marcus Stevenson Joel Zimmer Ben Hiebert Joel Zimmer Jeff Allen Jeff Allen Joel Zimmer Jeff Allen Bob Gorman Ben Hiebert Co-Pilot Observer

Aircraft HS1 HS2 HS3 HS4 HS1 HS4 HS1 HS4 HS3 HS3 HS3 HS2 HS1 HS2 HS4 HS1 HS2 HS1 HS3 HS4 HS3 HS4 HS4 HS2 HS2 HS1 HS3 HS4 HS2 HS2 HS3 HS3 HS1 HS1 HS2 HS3 HS3 HS3 HS4 HS2 HS4 HS2 HS2 HS4 HS2 HS1 HS1

109:20 5:09

451 1

237 4

1355 12

2:26

3:11

1:24 1:20 2:50 1:49 3:26

58 0 0 0 0

4 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 8 0

2:09 3:50 9:24

0 0 49

13 16 26

136 0 151

2:16 0:47 1:34 3:32 2:54

39 0 0 0 7

2 0 5 16 8

0 0 0 0 0

Ben Hiebert Ryan Young Jason Wannamaker Katie Burgess Marcus Stevenson NA Michael Tonietto NA Ben Hiebert NA Michael Tonietto Marcus Stevenson Ben Hiebert Marcus Stevenson Michael Tonietto NA NA NA Zac Glass NA Zac Glass NA Ryan Young Jason Wannamaker Ben Hiebert Katie Burgess Ryan Young Michael Tonietto Ben Hiebert Jason Wannamaker Katie Burgess Marcus Stevenson Michael Tonietto Marcus Stevenson Michael Tonietto Michael Tonietto Ryan Young Jason Wannamaker Jason Wannamaker Ben Hiebert Ryan Young Zac Glass Michael Tonietto Jason Wannamaker Katie Burgess Marcus Stevenson Marcus Stevenson Ben Hiebert Ben Hiebert Ben Hiebert Marcus Stevenson Marcus Stevenson Joe Golden+Emery Clay Marcus Stevenson Ryan Young Michael Tonietto Katie Burgess Ryan Young Michael Tonietto Katie Burgess Ben Hiebert Bob Gorman

0:48 2:12 5:46 4:40 3:22 1:45

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 23 8 21 0

0 0 241 0 118 0

Ryan Young Ryan Young

107

21-Jul-09 22-Jul-09 23-Jul-09 24-Jul-09 24-Jul-09 28-Jul-09 01-Aug-09 02-Aug-09 02-Aug-09 03-Aug-09 03-Aug-09 09-Aug-09 09-Aug-09 10-Aug-09 12-Aug-09 16-Aug-09 18-Aug-09 19-Aug-09 19-Aug-09 19-Aug-09 19-Aug-09 22-Aug-09 01-Sep-09 01-Sep-09 01-Sep-09 01-Sep-09 02-Sep-09 02-Sep-09 09-Sep-09 09-Sep-09 09-Sep-09 09-Sep-09 15-Sep-09 15-Sep-09

HS1 HS1 HS1 HS3 HS4 HS1 HS3 HS1 HS4 HS3 HS2 HS4 HS1 HS2 HS4 HS3 HS4 HS3 HS2 HS3 HS2 HS4 HS1 HS2 HS1 HS2 HS4 HS3 HS1 HS2 HS1 HS2 HS3 HS3

20:36 15:48 4:48 19:04 19:11 20:30 22:48 0:30 22:00 6:05 7:27 21:30 22:50 0:34 1:13 18:46 20:16 16:59 17:58 21:41 21:46 3:03 16:51 17:28 19:21 19:24 18:19 18:27 17:38 17:41 21:25 21:35 17:34 20:32

21:14 16:12 5:16 19:46 20:55 21:35 2:06 2:30 1:04 9:37 9:28 0:25 1:20 2:04 3:24 20:01 21:45 17:32 18:50 22:02 22:17 5:35 17:38 18:00 20:05 20:23 19:05 19:15 18:04 18:12 22:12 22:07 18:04 20:59

0:38 0:24 0:28 0:42 1:44 1:05 3:18 2:00 3:04 3:32 2:01 2:55 2:30 1:30 2:11 1:15 1:29 0:33 0:52 0:21 0:31 2:32 0:47 0:32 0:44 0:59 0:46 0:48 0:26 0:31 0:47 0:32 0:30 0:27 0:00 0:00

20:52 15:59 4:59 19:14 19:20 20:46 23:03 0:45 22:16 6:14 7:33 21:35 23:02 0:44 1:24 18:55 20:19 17:12 18:11 21:46 21:53 3:14 17:08 17:32 19:32 19:32 18:32 18:43 17:44 17:50 21:32 21:39 17:43 20:34

21:03 16:04 5:10 19:42 20:53 21:26 2:02 2:21 0:58 9:34 9:23 0:18 1:16 2:00 3:19 19:58 21:40 17:29 18:45 21:58 22:12 5:25 17:31 17:55 19:55 20:17 19:00 19:12 18:02 18:10 22:02 22:05 17:59 20:57

0:11 0:05 0:11 0:28 1:33 0:40 2:59 1:36 2:42 3:20 1:50 2:43 2:14 1:16 1:55 1:03 1:21 0:17 0:34 0:12 0:19 2:11 0:23 0:23 0:23 0:45 0:28 0:29 0:18 0:20 0:30 0:26 0:16 0:23 0:00 0:00

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 97 0 0 191 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 11 17 9 18 4 0 10 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 97 0 122 170 0 0 86 0 56 0 0 0 0 158 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Test PR PR Test Test Test Seed Patrol Seed Seed Seed Seed Seed Patrol Seed Patrol Seed PR PR PR PR Seed Test Test Test Test Test Test PR PR PR PR PR PR

0:52 2:26 1:05 5:18 8:37

0 0 0 0 97

0 0 0 15 37

0 0 0 0 219

6:55

191

22

170

2:11 1:15 1:29 2:17

0 0 0 0

10 0 7 0

86 0 56 0

2:32 3:02

0 0

0 0

158 0

1:34 2:16

0 0

0 0

0 0

0:57

0 0 0 0 0 0 2250 0 1927 4490 1699 3186 4420 0 1746 0 1210 0 0 0 0 452 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

27063 27063 27063 27063 27063 27063 29313 29313 31241 35731 37429 40615 45035 45035 46781 46781 47991 47991 47991 47991 47991 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443 48443

0 0 0 2250 8116 INC 7606 INC 1746 0 1210 0

452 0

0 0

0 Bob Gorman 0 Bob Gorman 0 Bob Gorman 0 Zac Glass 0 Joel Zimmer 0 Bob Gorman 2 Marcus Stevenson 0 Bob Gorman 2 Joel Zimmer 1 Zac Glass Jeff Allen 1 Joel Zimmer Bob Gorman 0 Jeff Allen 1 Joel Zimmer 0 Marcus Stevenson 1 Joel Zimmer 0 Zac Glass 0 Jeff Allen 0 Zac Glass 0 Jeff Allen 3 Joel Zimmer 0 Bob Gorman 0 Jeff Allen 0 Bob Gorman 0 Jeff Allen 0 Joel Zimmer 0 Marcus Stevenson 0 Bob Gorman 0 Jeff Allen 0 Bob Gorman 0 Jeff Allen 0 Zac Glass 0 Zac Glass

Ryan Young Ben Hiebert Ben Hiebert Ben Hiebert Marcus Stevenson Michael Tonietto Jason Wannamaker Ben Hiebert Ben Hiebert Katie Burgess Michael Tonietto Marcus Stevenson Ryan Young Michael Tonietto Ryan Young Jason Wannamaker Michael Tonietto Zac Glass Michael Tonietto Marcus Stevenson Jason Wannamaker Katie Burgess Marcus Stevenson Katie Burgess Jason Wannamaker Michael Tonietto Ben Hiebert Jason Wannamaker Ben Hiebert Jason Wannamaker Michael Tonietto Zac Glass Ryan Young Katie Burgess Ryan Young Katie Burgess

108

D.

FORMS

109

Daily Forecast Sheet

110

WMI Radar Observer Log

111

WMI Seeding Aircraft Flight Log

112

E.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR PIPER CHEYENNE II AIRCRAFT

Full deicing capabilities Power Type, Turboprop twin engine PT6A-28 engines 9000 lbs gross weight 5018 lbs empty weight 3982 lbs useful load 620 hp per engine 283 kts max speed 269 kts recommended cruise 75 kts stall dirty 382 gals fuel capacity 31,600 feet all engine service ceiling 14,600 feet single engine service ceiling 2,710 feet per minute all engine rate of climb 660 feet per minute single engine rate of climb 1980 feet for take off over 50 foot obstruction 1410 feet for take off ground roll 2480 feet land over 50 foot obstruction 1430 foot land ground roll 34 ft. 8 in. length 12 ft. 9 in. height 42 ft. 8 in. wingspan

113

F.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR BEECHCRAFT KING AIR C90 AIRCRAFT

Full deicing capabilities Power Type, Turboprop twin engine PT6A-21 engines 9650 lbs gross weight 6382 lbs empty weight 3268 lbs useful load 550 hp per engine 208 kts max speed 185 kts recommended cruise 74 kts dirty stall 384 gals fuel capacity 30,000 feet all engine service ceiling 14,200 single engine service ceiling 1500 feet per minute all engine rate of climb 350 feet per minute single engine rate of climb 3100 for take off over a 50 foot obstruction 2250 feet take off roll 1730 feet for landing over 50 foot obstacle 800 foot landing roll 35 ft 6 in length 14 ft 3 in height 50 ft 3 in wingspan

114

G.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR CESSNA C-340 AIRCRAFT

Power Type, Turbocharged piston twin engine 6290 lbs gross weight 4184 lbs empty weight 1802 lbs useful load 310 hp per engine 280 mph max speed 263 mph rec. cruise 82 mph stall dirty 183 - 203 gals fuel capacity 29,800 feet all engine service ceiling 15,800 feet single engine service ceiling 1650 feet per minute all engine rate of climb 315 feet per minute single engine rate of climb 2175 feet for take off over 50 foot obstruction 1615 feet for take off ground roll 1850 feet land over 50 foot obstruction 770 foot land ground roll 34 ft. 4 in. length 12 ft. 7 in. height 38 ft. 1 in. wingspan

115

H.

GROUND SCHOOL AGENDA

DAY 1 - FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2009 Location: Intact (formerly ING) Orange Grove Training Centre 12th Floor- Energy Plaza East Tower 311-6th Avenue SW, Calgary AB 08:45 Welcome and Staff Introductions Mr. Bruce Boe, WMI Director of Meteorology Mr. Jim Sweeney, WMI Vice-President Introductory Remarks from the Insurance Industry Perspective Mr. Todd Klapak, President- Alberta SevereWeatherManagement Society Hail Program Overview and Status of Hail Suppression Concepts, Mr. Bruce Boe Break Overview of 1996-2008 Alberta Operations, Mr. Bruce Boe SevereWeather Forecasting, Mr. Jason Goehring, WMI Canada Chief Meteorologist Break for Lunch ATC Controlling Procedures, Nav-Canada, Mr. Scott Young, YYC TCU Supervisor AviationWeather & Special Procedures Cloud Seeding Aircraft & Equipment Targeting Seeding Rates Storm Tracking and Directing Mr. Jody Fischer, WMI Break Aircraft Maintenance Procedures Mr. Gary Hillman, Hillman Air Mr. Bob Gorman, WMI Lead Canada Pilot Safety and Emergency Procedures, Mr. Bruce Boe Daily Routines & Procedures, Mr. Jason Goehring Cloud Seeding Chemical Inventory & Procedures, Mr. Joel Zimmer, WMI Pilot 05:00 06:00 End of Day 1 Ground School Evening Social and Dinner, Sugo Caffe Italia, 1214 9th Ave SE, Calgary

09:00 09:15 10:00 10:15 11:00 11:45 12:45 01:45

02:45 03:00

Day 2 Attendance only required for WMI meteorologists, pilots, and administrative staff. DAY 2 - SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009 Location: Holiday Inn Express Airport Hotel & Suites, 45 HopewellWay NE, Calgary 09:30 09:45 Job Responsibilities/ Duties/ WMI Representation and Professionalism, Mr. Bruce Boe Sharepoint Introduction Paperwork and Accounting Procedures Hands-on Sharepoint Session withWMI Field Crew Ms. Erin Fischer, WMI (or earlier) Dismiss for Lunch Visit and Setup: WMI Calgary Airport Office (840McTavish Road NE, Calgary), WMI Olds-Didsbury Radar, WMI Red Deer Office

12:00 01:00

116

I.

WMI AIRBORNE GENERATOR SEEDING SOLUTION

Chemical Formulation: 2% AgI - 0.5 NH4I - 0.1 C6H4Cl2 - 1.0 NaClO4 Recommended Burn Rate: ~2.0 gph Nucleation Mechanism: Condensation Freezing Total Solution Weight: 33.5 lbs. Volume: ~ 5.0 gallons, (20 liters) scale for other amounts Seeding Aerosol: AgI0.85AgCl0.15NaCl Chemical Formulation AgI NH4I C6H4Cl2 NaClO4 H2O (CH3)2CO Molecular Wt.(g/mole) 234.77 144.94 147.00 140.48 17.99 58.08 Mass (g) 304.2 93.9 19.0 181.8 607.7 or less 13985.5 Weight (lb.) 0.67 0.21 0.042 0.40 1.34 30.84 Volume (gal) n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.202 4.645

Constituent Silver Iodide Ammonium Iodide Paradichlorobenzene Sodium Perchlorate, 99% Water Acetone

Note: Sodium Perchlorate, anhydrous can be utilized in the formula by adjusting the weight or mass to include 0.34 lb or 158.1 g respectively, although proper handling becomes more difficult. Water amounts should be increased to 1.40 lb or 630 g (0.21 gal). NOTE: Use 2.4 urinal pucks (85 gram Paradichloro-benzene) for 205 litre barrel of acetone. Mixing procedures are as follows: 1.) Combine AgI and acetone in a 5 gallon container and begin stirring; 2.) Combine ammonium iodide, sodium perchlorate and water in another small container and stir until the solution is clear and cool (caution the perchlorate is a strong oxidizer and needs to be done at room temperatures, don't do this in a hot hanger) 3.) Add the ammonium iodide, sodium perchlorate and water mixture to the stirring silver iodide/acetone slurry; 4.) Continue mixing until the solution is clear; 5.) Add the paradichlorobenzene anytime after you have added container #2 and the solution is beginning to clear; 6.) Continue mixing for another 10 minutes until very clear; and 7.) Pump the solution into the aircraft generator immediately after mixing or store in an appropriate labled sealed container. Storage containers can be either stainless or plastic (polypropelyene). Supplier: Solution Blend Service, 2720 7th Avenue N.E., Calgary, AB, T2A 5G6,403-207-9840

117

J.

DAILY METEOROLOGICAL FORECAST STATISTICS 2009

-5C Level (kft) 10.3 12.5 12.9 12.7 7.2 8.0 8.7 8.5 9.8 11.3 13.0 13.1 13.9 14.2 14.3 13.7 13.2 12.6 12.6 12.7 13.0 12.2 11.5 14.1 11.5 11.1 14.6 11.3 12.2 10.7 -10C Level (kft) 12.9 14.9 16.2 15.7 12.1 9.7 10.4 10.7 11.9 13.5 15.1 15.7 16.3 16.5 16.9 16.1 15.7 14.8 15.0 15.3 15.7 14.9 13.6 17.7 14.0 13.1 17.4 13.3 14.5 12.9 Cloud Base Cloud Maximum Temp. Dew Height Base Cloud Top Maximum Point (kft) Temp (C) Height (kft) (C) (C) 9.6 -3.0 16 14 1 12.9 -6.2 14 21 -2 12.5 -4.7 14 24 1 9.6 2.8 30 21 7 5.4 0.3 13 8 4 8.3 -6.3 17 10 -1 8.4 -4.0 25 10 2 3.6 -2.6 17 10 0 4.5 -1.7 12 14 3 7.7 -4.0 15 19 1 8.2 -2.0 28 22 2 6.0 4.6 32 22 9 11.4 2.1 33 25 9 10.9 2.8 36 26 9 9.6 6.8 40 26 10 10.8 3.1 30 24 9 8.9 4.6 31 22 9 10 1.3 28 20 5 9.7 1.4 31 22 7 9.7 1.5 25 23 5 6.8 6.6 21 16 8 7.3 4.5 20 15 7 10.3 -1.4 27 20 5 NC NC NC 24 1 7.9 -3.5 18 20 2 8.0 -5.2 15 20 2 NC NC NC 23 3 7.2 -2.6 15 19 1 5.4 3.2 22 19 6 6.1 -0.2 19 19 6 Conv Cell Cell Storm Storm Temp Total Lifted Direction Speed Direction Speed (C) CAPE Totals Index Showalter (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) 10 29 51.3 1.2 1.6 10 10 10 10 21 1 49.9 0.7 1.2 20 5 30 5 24 0 45.5 2.9 3.3 315 20 355 15 19 343 53.4 -1.2 -1.1 335 25 5 15 7 54 42.9 6.8 7.8 310 20 330 10 7 115 54.2 1.1 1.7 25 15 55 10 7 333 59 -1.9 -1.6 320 5 345 5 9 41 57.0 0.1 0.2 270 5 340 5 12 30 52 1.9 1.8 25 5 90 5 19 49 50 1.4 1.5 345 20 20 15 21 320 56 -2.0 -2.1 320 20 5 10 20 798 55 -3.1 -2.1 300 10 320 5 23 1116 57.6 -4.1 -3.6 245 15 270 5 24 830 55.6 -2.9 -2.7 260 10 290 5 23 1500 56.8 -4.6 -3.9 195 20 240 10 22 585 56.6 -3.7 -3.1 295 20 310 10 21 523 54.1 -2.6 -1.7 225 10 260 10 19 376 56 -2.3 -2.3 300 20 330 10 19 313 52.7 -1.6 -0.4 225 15 255 10 19 184 51.8 -0.6 -0.1 260 20 260 5 14 140 52.6 -1.1 -1.2 300 10 310 5 15 115 52.7 -0.5 -0.4 10 15 30 5 16 438 56.6 -2.4 -1.9 285 20 320 15 20 0 44.5 3.4 3.4 260 25 280 20 20 40 53 -0.3 0.1 250 35 280 25 19 46 52.5 0.3 0.5 260 25 315 15 27 0 46.2 2.3 2.7 310 30 320 20 19 104 47.9 1.5 3.0 250 35 290 27 20 270 55.1 -2.1 -1.5 240 30 275 20 15 329 57.6 -2.8 -2.0 250 25 280 25 Low Low Mid High High Level Level Mid Level Level Level Level Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Outlook Observed (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) CDC CDC 15 10 330 20 285 75 -3 -2 195 5 355 15 30 30 -3 -3 325 10 325 30 320 45 -1 -3 355 20 320 30 300 50 0 0 110 5 295 30 300 45 0 -1 40 10 25 25 345 20 0 -1 155 5 315 15 340 15 0 0 120 5 285 10 5 15 -1 0 70 5 50 15 60 25 -2 0 350 10 345 30 10 40 -4 -3 305 5 340 25 355 30 -1 -2 270 5 315 15 330 30 0 0 245 5 245 15 220 5 2 1 210 5 260 15 270 40 2 1 190 15 220 20 240 20 2 1 290 10 280 20 320 20 0 1 240 10 210 15 205 45 -1 0 315 15 295 20 300 50 -1 1 210 10 230 15 235 45 0 0 245 5 220 20 225 100 -2 0 310 10 265 10 180 35 -2 0 340 10 30 15 170 20 0 0 290 25 285 25 280 35 -3 0 225 20 260 35 260 80 1 -3 265 30 240 45 235 70 -2 0 295 15 285 20 260 25 -3 -1 285 20 280 35 290 55 -2 -3 270 20 260 60 265 90 0 0 200 15 255 50 270 100 1 1 275 10 240 50 257 95 0 1

2009 FCST Precip. 0C Level Date CDC Water (in) (kft) 1-Jun -2 0.33 8.6 2-Jun -3 0.26 10.8 3-Jun -3 0.50 11.0 4-Jun -1 0.60 10.5 5-Jun -1 0.53 5.6 6-Jun 0 0.34 6.3 7-Jun 0 0.37 7.0 8-Jun -1 0.41 6.6 9-Jun 0 0.39 7.7 10-Jun -3 0.50 9.5 11-Jun 0 0.58 11.3 12-Jun 1 0.80 10.7 13-Jun 1 0.73 12.2 14-Jun 1 0.78 11.9 15-Jun 1 0.97 11.9 16-Jun 1 0.72 11.8 17-Jun 1 0.88 10.8 18-Jun -1 0.61 10.5 19-Jun 1 0.74 10.3 20-Jun -1 0.60 10.5 21-Jun -1 0.76 10.3 22-Jun 0 0.76 9.4 23-Jun 0 0.55 9.8 24-Jun -3 0.73 11.9 25-Jun -1 0.46 9.7 26-Jun -1 0.46 9.2 27-Jun -3 0.65 11.5 28-Jun 0 0.50 9.3 29-Jun 1 0.73 9.8 30-Jun 2 0.59 9.1

118

2009 FCST Precip. 0C Level Date CDC Water (in) (kft) 1-Jul 0 0.57 10.1 2-Jul 1 0.69 9.9 3-Jul 0 0.62 10.1 4-Jul 1 0.83 11.5 5-Jul 1 1.01 11.2 6-Jul 1 1.22 11.5 7-Jul 1 0.64 9.6 8-Jul 1 0.67 9.8 9-Jul 0 0.62 8.3 10-Jul -2 0.73 11.4 11-Jul 0 0.89 12.1 12-Jul 3 0.95 13.2 13-Jul 0 1.01 11.6 14-Jul -2 0.69 8.9 15-Jul 1 0.75 11.4 16-Jul 1 0.76 12.0 17-Jul 0 0.81 13.4 18-Jul -3 0.79 13.8 0.68 11.1 19-Jul 0 20-Jul -1 0.71 11.8 21-Jul -3 0.87 12.8 22-Jul -3 1.01 13.6 23-Jul 1 1.02 13.6 24-Jul -1 0.89 14.0 25-Jul 0 0.92 14.4 26-Jul 0 1.08 13.3 27-Jul 0 0.86 13.1 28-Jul 0 0.84 11.2 29-Jul -1 0.69 11.3 30-Jul 2 1.02 11.7 31-Jul -2 0.67 13.7

-5C Level (kft) 11.9 12.3 12.4 13.8 13.8 14.6 11.9 11.7 11.5 13.6 14.9 15.4 14.7 11.6 13.5 14.2 15.8 16.1 13.2 14.2 15.1 15.9 16.3 16.4 16.7 16.3 15.6 14.4 13.5 14.2 16.4

Cloud -10C Base Cloud Maximum Temp. Dew Level Height Base Cloud Top Maximum Point (kft) (kft) Temp (C) Height (kft) (C) (C) 13.7 10.9 -2.4 28 21 5 14.8 8.4 4.5 29 20 7 14.9 9.3 2.5 28 21 6 16.2 10.5 2.2 30 24 8 16.5 7.3 7.7 30 20 11 17.7 6.4 11 36 21 12 14.3 9.0 1.7 26 19 8 14.3 8.5 3.6 31 18 9 14.4 6.7 4.7 20 15 8 16.5 10.4 2.3 19 22 7 17.5 8.6 7.2 30 22 10 18.0 9.9 7.6 38 26 13 17.0 6.2 10.9 32 20 14 14.8 6.3 5.0 13 14 7 16.1 9.9 3.9 30 22 10 17.1 10.0 5.4 35 26 10 18.2 11.3 5.4 36 27 12 18.3 13.1 1.7 35 29 10 15.3 9.3 4.5 27 21 7 16.7 10.4 3.1 22 23 7 17.9 10.5 5.2 32 25 9 18.6 12.5 2.6 33 29 9 19.3 10.5 7.1 36 29 11 19.2 11.1 5.1 33 27 9 19.4 12.5 3.9 28 30 9 19.2 8.4 9.4 30 25 13 18.4 11.1 4.2 27 26 9 17.1 7.5 8.2 27 21 12 17.4 10.2 3.3 19 23 8 17.2 8.0 8.2 33 26 13 18.9 NC NC NC 26 9

Low Low Mid High High Level Level Mid Level Level Level Level Conv Cell Cell Storm Storm Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Temp Total Lifted Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Outlook Observed (C) CAPE Totals Index Showalter (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) CDC CDC 18 419 56.5 -2.4 -1.9 275 20 290 10 240 5 265 20 270 60 0 0 17 469 55.3 -2.4 -1.9 270 20 290 15 240 5 270 35 265 70 0 1 19 460 57.1 -2.9 -2.7 285 25 325 15 310 15 290 35 290 75 0 0 22 312 55.2 -2.1 -2.2 280 20 305 15 275 10 285 35 270 65 0 1 19 317 51.4 -1.6 -0.6 265 20 295 10 240 5 270 35 270 60 1 1 17 736 50.5 -2.3 -1.5 155 25 180 15 140 20 170 25 185 40 0 0 17 274 54.0 -1.9 -0.7 230 15 255 10 240 15 220 15 155 15 0 1 16 878 57.5 -3.5 -3.0 295 20 325 10 290 20 295 15 340 5 0 1 14 157 52.1 -0.4 0.5 300 20 340 20 305 30 310 35 320 30 -2 0 17 95 50.5 -0.1 0.2 315 20 335 15 280 15 320 25 350 30 0 -1 18 460 53.0 -2.1 -2.0 300 15 330 10 295 15 300 20 275 45 3 0 25 1218 56.5 -4.4 -4.2 250 15 270 10 230 15 250 15 235 55 1 3 21 797 54.1 -3.7 -3.1 330 5 15 5 260 5 315 5 220 30 -2 0 15 25 47.7 2.2 2.8 300 25 335 15 320 15 295 30 290 40 -3 0 22 362 53.1 -1.8 -1.3 290 30 320 15 285 20 300 30 290 45 0 0 25 869 55.4 -4.2 -2.7 275 15 300 10 265 10 285 25 300 55 0 1 28 483 53.6 -2.7 -2.3 290 15 300 10 275 10 275 20 290 50 0 0 32 311 52.0 -1.7 -0.8 245 25 270 20 225 15 245 40 260 80 0 0 20 688 58.9 -4.3 -4.5 285 25 330 20 305 20 300 30 280 75 -3 3 21 235 53 -1.4 -1.3 305 25 345 15 295 15 325 30 315 65 -3 -2 27 362 51.5 -1.1 -1.1 300 25 330 10 300 10 305 20 305 40 -3 -3 30 341 53.1 -2.0 -2.1 285 30 320 20 290 15 290 35 295 30 -3 0 27 786 51.4 -2.5 -1.3 295 20 320 10 310 5 295 20 260 10 0 0 28 292 50.7 -1.4 -0.6 135 10 180 5 155 10 150 10 85 40 -3 -1 29 517 52.7 -2.1 -1.6 185 1 185 5 155 5 155 10 110 15 0 1 23 410 50.0 -1.5 -1.2 335 10 30 5 15 10 350 10 285 15 -1 0 23 232 51.6 -1.4 -0.9 340 25 15 15 340 10 345 25 330 40 0 0 17 332 51.7 -1.6 -1.3 340 30 25 20 5 20 350 30 5 70 -1 0 17 134 49.6 0.1 0.5 10 20 35 15 5 10 5 25 5 55 1 -2 23 624 51.8 -2.7 -1.1 325 35 360 25 345 25 325 45 315 80 -2 0 20 0 47.8 0.9 1.0 340 25 10 15 320 20 350 35 355 50 2 -2

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2009 FCST Precip. 0C Level Date CDC Water (in) (kft) 1-Aug 1 0.99 14.0 2-Aug 0 1.19 13.0 3-Aug 0 1.08 13.3 4-Aug 0 0.86 10.5 5-Aug -2 0.97 10.6 6-Aug 0 0.73 10.9 7-Aug -2 0.62 11.4 8-Aug -3 0.77 12.5 9-Aug 2 0.86 12.3 10-Aug -1 0.97 12.5 11-Aug 1 0.83 11.5 12-Aug 1 0.70 10.8 13-Aug -1 0.79 9.0 14-Aug 0 0.69 9.0 15-Aug 0 0.60 9.2 16-Aug 0 0.62 9.9 17-Aug 0 1.02 12.1 18-Aug 1 0.90 11.2 19-Aug -3 0.81 14.5 20-Aug -3 0.96 15.9 21-Aug 2 1.00 13.7 22-Aug 1 0.68 11.2 23-Aug 2 0.70 10.2 24-Aug -3 0.57 11.5 25-Aug -1 0.67 11.2 26-Aug -1 0.89 11.8 27-Aug -3 0.76 13.7 28-Aug -3 0.54 14.0 29-Aug -3 0.51 14.4 30-Aug -3 0.44 14.9 31-Aug -3 0.58 14.4

-5C Level (kft) 16.3 15.5 15.4 14.1 13.6 13.7 14.9 14.9 14.6 15.2 14.2 12.5 11.7 11.7 11.8 12.3 14.2 13.7 18.6 18.0 16.2 13.3 12.3 14.9 13.9 13.9 16.9 17.0 16.9 17.0 16.4

-10C Level (kft) 18.9 18.2 17.6 16.5 16.2 16.6 17.9 17.5 17.1 18.1 16.8 14.7 14.4 14.3 14.8 14.7 16.9 16.6 20.8 20.2 18.8 15.5 14.5 17.7 16.6 16.3 19.8 19.7 19.1 19.0 18.5

Cloud Base Cloud Maximum Temp. Dew Height Base Cloud Top Maximum Point (kft) Temp (C) Height (kft) (C) (C) 11.5 6.3 39 30 11 7.9 11.1 40 29 11 7.1 9.1 32 18 11 4.7 6.4 18 11 10 5.0 8.5 10 14 10 6.1 9.1 24 18 12 8.6 5.6 14 20 9 10.7 4.1 35 24 9 9.3 6.6 36 25 11 9.8 6.0 24 25 10 8.3 7.6 30 21 10 10.8 0.1 28 24 9 6.5 5.1 19 15 7 5.6 6.3 21 12 9 8.0 3.4 20 16 7 8.8 2.9 23 19 7 9.5 5.2 20 24 11 6.5 9.2 24 22 11 7.8 7.8 13 23 11 8.2 8.6 NC 24 11 10.7 6.9 38 29 12 10.4 1.1 22 23 6 8.4 4.4 27 20 9 9.2 2.8 NC 21 6 10.4 4.2 31 26 8 9.4 5.5 22 24 9 8.9 6.9 NC 24 10 10.1 5.3 NC 26 9 11.9 3.8 30 28 8 12.3 0.6 NC 26 5 12.9 1.5 NC 30 8

Low Low Mid High High Level Level Mid Level Level Level Level Conv Cell Cell Storm Storm Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Temp Total Lifted Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Outlook Observed (C) CAPE Totals Index Showalter (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) CDC CDC 29 742 54.3 -3.2 -2.8 290 25 325 20 300 25 285 35 300 35 0 2 26 796 52.1 -3.7 -2.4 300 30 340 25 310 25 300 40 315 45 0 5 25 240 51.7 -1.8 -1.7 290 25 315 15 275 15 295 35 295 55 0 0 10 5 40.7 6.5 6.7 285 25 315 20 285 10 275 35 275 70 0 0 15 0 46.6 2.0 2.6 270 30 285 15 235 10 270 30 255 60 0 0 18.4 222 49.4 -0.6 0.2 280 25 320 10 300 15 280 25 265 25 0 0 20 44 47.3 1.1 1.4 25 15 50 10 10 10 20 20 10 20 -3 -3 24 491 53.2 -2.1 -1.9 325 15 360 5 335 10 335 10 65 10 0 -1 24 790 55.4 -3.4 -3.3 285 20 295 10 280 15 250 20 275 15 -1 3 26 213 48.3 -1.6 1.1 250 40 280 25 230 20 255 50 250 55 0 -1 20 616 54.0 -3.6 -2.2 260 40 285 30 260 30 255 50 240 85 -2 4 19 414 55.9 -3.0 -2.1 255 24 290 15 245 10 260 35 250 80 -2 1 14 79 51.5 0.1 0.6 220 10 255 10 140 5 235 20 240 75 -1 -1 11 98 52.4 -0.4 0.1 190 5 240 5 265 5 185 10 210 60 -1 0 15 125 51.9 -0.1 0.2 345 25 25 15 355 30 355 20 10 25 0 0 15 211 53.1 -1.1 -0.5 355 20 30 15 350 20 5 20 15 50 0 0 24 171 51.2 -1.0 -0.7 310 20 350 15 320 15 315 25 340 60 1 -2 21 332 51.1 -2.4 -0.8 300 35 350 30 325 30 320 45 335 130 -3 2 23 0 37.2 5.7 5.9 335 35 10 20 315 20 335 45 330 70 -3 -3 36 0 43.8 2.0 2.2 265 15 285 10 255 15 270 25 295 55 0 -3 30 916 54.0 -3.6 -2.5 245 25 270 15 240 15 240 30 245 65 1 4 24 133 54.3 -1.9 -1.4 265 30 285 20 250 15 260 40 250 80 2 -3 21 294 55.5 -2.9 -1.7 245 25 285 20 285 15 240 35 230 95 -3 0 28 0 40.8 3.3 5.8 280 25 310 15 275 20 280 35 305 50 -2 -3 27 543 50.5 -2.9 0.3 255 30 275 20 250 15 240 45 230 65 -2 -1 24 283 51.5 -1.8 -0.6 245 15 270 10 230 10 245 20 270 55 -3 0 32 0 40.4 2.1 5.3 305 30 335 15 310 20 300 35 305 25 -3 -3 32 0 43.0 1.8 3.8 305 10 305 5 305 5 290 15 205 15 -3 -3 33 208 49.9 -1.5 0.2 255 1 165 5 115 2 115 5 360 5 -3 -3 34 0 47.0 1.4 1.8 200 2 175 2 220 5 90 5 65 15 -2 -3 32 151 53.2 -1.7 -1.6 275 10 275 5 305 5 245 10 35 10 0 -3

2009 FCST Precip. 0C Level Date CDC Water (in) (kft) 1-Sep -2 0.76 13.9 2-Sep 1 0.80 13.5 3-Sep 1 0.83 12.6 4-Sep -3 0.79 11.6 5-Sep -2 0.76 13.6 6-Sep -1 0.66 11.1 7-Sep -1 0.48 8.6 8-Sep -2 0.52 8.7 9-Sep -1 0.82 10.4 10-Sep -3 0.44 10.3 11-Sep -3 0.51 15.4 12-Sep -3 0.49 16.8 13-Sep -3 0.41 15.3 14-Sep -2 0.68 12.9 15-Sep -2 0.95 13.1

-5C Level (kft) 15.9 16.3 14.6 15.4 15.6 13.4 10.7 10.9 13.3 13.4 18.2 19.4 17.9 15.4 15.9

-10C Level (kft) 18.2 18.6 16.9 17.9 17.9 15.6 12.9 14.6 16.0 17.2 20.9 21.8 20.2 17.9 19.7

Cloud Base Cloud Maximum Temp. Dew Height Base Cloud Top Maximum Point (kft) Temp (C) Height (kft) (C) (C) 11.6 4.0 32 28 10 11.4 4.6 36 30 11 11.0 3.5 33 28 10 9.5 3.8 13 23 8 10.7 0.7 33 21 5 9.5 2.0 23 22 8 9.8 -2.9 28 16 5 10.8 -5.0 12 19 1 9.9 1.0 13 21 2 NC NC NC 19 4 10.5 2.2 NC 24 6 11.3 0.8 NC 25 5 12.3 0.6 NC 26 5 10.0 2.4 NC 24 7 11.4 3.8 18 26 10

Conv Cell Cell Storm Storm Temp Total Lifted Direction Speed Direction Speed (C) CAPE Totals Index Showalter (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) 29 467 54.7 -2.9 -2.6 200 2 230 2 28 872 52.8 -2.3 -1.7 265 20 290 15 26 672 54.7 -3.4 -2.2 190 40 225 30 23 14 47.5 1.1 1.5 270 20 300 15 30 0 45.9 2.6 2.7 200 30 235 20 26 112 53.6 -1.5 -1.0 200 40 230 30 17 128 54.7 -0.9 -0.3 265 20 296 10 18 0 42.0 6.0 6.0 280 25 320 15 21 0 48.0 2.1 2.1 270 30 290 20 21 0 34.6 7.7 7.8 330 15 10 15 43 0 31.5 7.1 10.3 10 5 275 1 45.3 0 30.6 8.9 10.4 220 10 240 10 37 0 41.0 4.3 4.8 100 20 125 10 29 0 47.3 0.7 1.9 320 20 360 10 28 73 45.6 1.0 1.8 260 20 295 10

Low Low Mid High High Level Level Mid Level Level Level Level Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Wind Direction Speed Direction Speed Direction Speed Outlook Observed (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) (deg) (knots) CDC CDC 170 5 250 5 145 10 1 -3 245 10 270 25 255 30 0 -2 200 35 185 45 210 55 -3 0 290 15 250 35 245 50 -2 -2 200 30 215 35 225 50 -2 -2 210 25 195 50 195 90 -2 0 280 20 260 15 220 25 -3 0 285 20 295 30 330 53 -1 -2 270 30 260 25 245 30 -3 -1 290 10 350 35 345 85 -3 -3 170 5 315 5 315 30 -3 -3 220 10 225 10 220 20 -3 -3 125 10 70 20 100 60 -3 -3 310 10 335 25 320 35 -2 -2 255 10 280 20 310 35 -3

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K.

PROJECT PERSONNEL AND TELEPHONE LIST

ALBERTA HAIL SUPPRESSION PROJECT 2009
Last Revised 05 June 2009 ALBERTA SEVERE WEATHER MANAGEMENT SOCIETY (ASWMS) - CALGARY, ALBERTA
TODD KLAPAK ASWMS Board Co-President #1300-321 6th Ave. SW Calgary, AB T2P 0P6 ROBIN SEACOMBE CATHERINE JANSSEN ASWMS Board Co-President (Retired) ASWMS Secretary-Treasurer Home: 403-278-0279 Cell: 780-940-9424 Home: 780-416-9687 robinseacombe@hotmail.com janssenc@telus.net cjanssen@meyersinsurance.com bboe@weathermod.com Office: 403-231-1357 Fax: 403-233-2815 todd.klapak@intact.net

WEATHER MODIFICATION, INC. (WMI) - FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA

BRUCE BOE Project Director Director of Meteorology Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 HANS AHLNESS VP- Operations Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 ERIN FISCHER JODY FISCHER DENNIS AFSETH Administration Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 Flight Ops Support Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 Director of Electronics Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 MIKE CLANCY ED FANDRICH RANDY JENSON PATRICK SWEENEY JAMES SWEENEY Director of Maintenance Weather Modification Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 Lead WMI Mechanic 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 CFO Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 President/CEO Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 Vice President Weather Modification, Inc. 3802 20th Street North, Fargo, ND 58102

PHONE: 701-235-5500 FAX: 701-235-9717

Office: 701-673-3354 Cell: 701-238-2577 Home: 701-673-3254 Direct Office: 701-373-8834 Cell: 701-371-4064 Home: 701-280-2329 Cell: 701-371-3096 Direct Office: 701-373-8829 Cell: 701-371-6138 Office: 701-235-5500 ext 190/193 Cell: 701-799-5461 Home: 701-235-8778 Cell: 701-219-1390 Office: 701-373-8841 Cell: 701-261-3403 Office: 701-373-8843 Office: 701-235-5500 ext. 103 Cell: 701-371-4073 Office: 701-235-5500 ext.107 Cell: 701-371-4060 Office: 701-235-5500 ext.102 Cell: 701-371-4061

hahlness@weathermod.com

efischer@weathermod.com jfischer@weathermod.com dafseth@weathermod.com

mclancy@fargojet.com efandrich@weathermod.com rjenson@weathermod.com pat@weathermod.com jim@weathermod.com

RADAR OPERATIONS CENTER - OLDS-DISBURY AIRPORT, ALBERTA

RADAR FAX: 403-335-8377
JASON GOEHRING VIKTOR MAKITOV MATT BECKER

RADAR PHONE: 403-335-8359

ADDRESS: Olds-Didsbury Airport, Highway 2A, Olds, Alberta T4H 1A1

EMAIL: olds@weathermod.com

Canada Chief Meteorologist Weather Modification, Inc. Cell: 605-216-5960 Meteorologist Weather Modification, Inc. Meteorologist Weather Modification, Inc. Cell: 403-559-6889 Cell: 847-714-3164

jgoehring@weathermod.com vsmakitov@hotmail.com mbecker@weathermod.com

PILOT OFFICE - CALGARY, ALBERTA

PILOT OFFICE: 403-690-0153
BOB GORMAN JEFF ALLEN N234K Pilot Weather Modification, Inc. N457DM BEN HIEBERT Pilot Weather Modification, Inc. N234K & N457DM MORGAN AIR CO-PILOTS: RYAN YOUNG JASON WANNAMAKER KATIE BURGESS (Supervisor- Mr. Gavin Lange) Cell: 403-850-9614 Cell: 403-921-2641 Cell: 403-629-8508 ryoung82@hotmail.com floatplanepilot@hotmail.com kburgess@morganairservices.com Cell: 403-463-2992 Home: 403-245-2364 ben_hiebert@yahoo.com Cell: 403-803-8360 jeffr_allen@yahoo.ca

ADDRESS: 820 McTavish Road, Calgary, Alberta, T2E 7G6

Cell: 403-700-3284

EMAIL: calgary@weathermod.com
irishbob2002@hotmail.com

Lead Canada Pilot Weather Modification, Inc.

PILOT OFFICE - RED DEER, ALBERTA

PILOT OFFICE: 403-886-7857
JOEL ZIMMER

ADDRESS: 3826 Landcaster Drive, Hangar A, Penhold, Alberta

Cell: 403-550-0190

EMAIL: reddeer@weathermod.com
pro_pilotage@hotmail.com

Pilot Weather Modification, Inc. N123KK

MARCUS STEVENSON

Pilot Weather Modification, Inc. N911FG

Cell: 403-872-7100

marcuste@hotmail.com

ZAC GLASS

Pilot Weather Modification, Inc. N911FG

Cell: 403-872-4008

zglass3217@aol.com

MICHAEL TONIETTO

Co-Pilot Weather Modification Inc. N911FG & N123KK

Cell: 403-929-0707

mtoni777@hotmail.com

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES

GARY HILLMAN (BARB) DALE CAMPBELL MORGAN AIR (GAVIN LANGE) CALGARY - JET A FUEL (EXECUTIVE) CALGARY- AVGAS (SHELL) ATC EDMONTON OSS ATC SHIFT MANAGER EDMONTON ATC CALGARY TERMINAL SUPERVISOR ATC CALGARY TOWER STORM WATCH HOTLINE RED DEER AIRPORT FLIGHT SERVICE BARRY ROBINSON (CENTRAL DIGITAL SYSTEMS) Calgary Radar Technician Severe Weather Desk: 800.239.0484 Notification to Launch Aircraft Hillman Air P.O. Box 580, Red Deer Regional Airport Penhold, Alberta TOM 1R0 Morgan Air Coordinator- YYC Co-Pilot Supervisor 840 McTavish Rd. NE, Calgary, Alberta T2E 7G6 Office: 403-886-4187 Fax: 403-886-5682 Home: 403-728-3630 Cell: 403-597-4187 Dale Cell: 403-350-8148 Office: 403-291-3644 Fax: 403-291-2296 Gavin Cell: 403-835-1571, Home: 403-257-5283 Phone: 403-291-2825 Phone: 403-295-4100 Phone: 888-882-2254 Phone: 780-890-8397 Fax: 780-890-4710 Phone: 780-890-4711 Phone: 403-216-7121 Fax: 403-216-7122 Phone: 800-66-STORM (800-667-8676) Phone: 403-886-4547 Office: 403-886-2111 Cell: 403-350-6921 tech@central-digital.com glange@airpartners.ca gary@hillmanair.com

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