Monday, July 10, 2006

Tom Cech: A beautiful rain The drought is far from over, even with all the moisture over the weekend, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Much of Colorado received a thorough soaking over the weekend but the rain didn't do much to beat back the state's stubborn drought, according to weather experts... "[Kyle Fredin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder] said the weekend's rainfall, the product of a slow-moving tropical air mass making its way north from Mexico, brought Denver's precipitation total to 3.79 inches since the beginning of the year, just 44 percent of normal. Slightly less than an inch of rain was recorded at Denver International Airport over the weekend, while some parts of the metro area received up to 1.7 inches. Parts of Cheyenne County in eastern Colorado received up to 8 inches of rain in what meteorologists described as a 'localized' phenomenon." Category: Colorado Water 6:36:40 AM     Hail cannons effective? Here's a story about weather modification using hail cannons from the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "The concussions signal the start of hail season in the San Luis Valley. The reverberations follow blasts from hail cannons deployed around vegetable fields. The theory is that the vibrations from shock waves aimed into approaching storms will disrupt the formation of hailstones that could devastate the crops. 'For the last few years, the fields that got hailed on were the fields that were unprotected,' said Amy Kunugi, general manager for Southern Colorado Farms. The commercial vegetable grower stirred up bitter feelings this year with its application to renew its state permit to continue operating eight hail cannons. Noise pollution across the vast emptiness of the southern Colorado valley is only one part of the complaint about the hail cannons. More seriously, in a season of worsening drought, ranchers downwind from Southern Colorado Farms believe that the grower's use of sonic cannons to zap potential hail clouds is depriving them of desperately needed rain." More Coyote Gulch coverage. Category: Colorado Water 6:31:53 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:55:53 AM.