European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday september 27, 1978 the stars and stripes modern living or Page 19 watching fora rain Cloud by Samuel 0. Hancock United press International loud watching has become a favorite pastime of the embattled Farmers of Saline and Gallatin counties but they Haven t seen Many rainbows. For most their stunted drought stricken crops Are withering in the Fields of Southern Illinois where a feast of Snow last Winter was followed by a rainfall famine. In an Lith hour Effort to coax raindrops from nature some Farmers chipped in for a 30-Day weather modification program. As one Gallatin county observer at Shawneetown put it it s probably the first rain making Effort in this area since the Shawnee indians used to do their rain  and the last of the shawnees left the area some 150 years ago. Farmers Banks agribusinesses and other farm related enterprises banded to Gether As Southeastern rain inc., and collected $52,700 for a contract with atmospherics inc., of Fresno Calif. For the most part results were spotty. An unexpected weather front moved through aug. 25 and most of the area received Only .7-Inch of rainfall. Cecil Church vice chairman of South Eastern rain said the Cloud seeding apparently helped but he was critical of an Illi Nois regulation that halted operations when the buildup of Clouds exceeded 50,000 feet. We Are becoming More disgusted but not with atmospherics inc., because they just Haven t had the Clouds to work with said Church who has Farmed for 38 years. It s been sort of a weird experience. It s sort of like there is an anti magnetic Field up there keeping the Clouds away from these two  the drought of 1978, Church said to the Best of my memory is worse than the one in 1936 when i was in High school. If we Farmed now the Way we did then we d already have been wiped  Church farms 900 acres East of Harris Burg 550 in Corn and 350 in soybeans. On two thirds of my Corn i think i la have 75 bushels per acre where i should have a 150-Bushel yield Church said. On the other one third i la probably get 25 to 30 bushels where i normally would get 100  soybeans he expects a yield Range of 30 to 50 percent depending on late Rains. We Are amazed How the crops have Hung on As Well As they have he said. Corn roots Are Down from 5 to 8 feet in some areas. The pastures Are As Bare As Blacktop and Farmers have been feeding Hay for six  streams and creeks Are beginning to stagnate. This is going to have some environmental  ironically he said Many Farmers in the two county area affected by the drought were hit by a Grain elevator bankruptcy earlier this year in which losses were about $4.5 million. I believe we could have at least a dozen farm failures he said. No Money for last year s crops and no crops to speak of this year two years in a Row is pretty Tough with All the expenses Farmers have. Some areas of these counties have had less than 4 inches of rain since the Snow melted. It s been 8 to 10 weeks since some Farmers have mowed their lawns. I be Only mowed three times and normally it s a once a week  said Farmers in Mclean county in the Bloomington Normal area tried Cloud seeding two years in a Row and were so impressed with results they plan to bring the rainmakers Back next year. Atmospherics conducted both operations. Southeastern rain will hold a series of meetings Early next year he said before a final decision is made on another weather modification Effort. I feel i have Learned enough about weather modification that i be about got my Money s Worth. It s been a Short course in meteorology for me. You la find that the ones who talk against it the most Are the ones who know the least about it Church said. At the Harrisburg Raleigh Airport the four Man weather modification Crew of atmospherics inc., maintained an around the clock Vigil for Clouds that would bring a Cloud seeding scramble in two White and Blue twin engine aircraft a 169-horse Power Piper Comanche and a 300-horse Power Piper Aztec. The Crew including a meteorologist a radar Man and two pilots had radar Scopes in a trailer to give them a Birds Eye View of Clouds within a 250-mile radius and show their vertical height. Richard Jordison 28, a native of the Murphysboro Carbondale area and a graduate of Parks air College in East St. Louis with a Bachelor of science degree in meteorology headed the Crew. Jordison worked on the California drought last Winter and once did Hail sup pression work in the to Valley of Italy. There s a great Deal of Luck involved he said. We Don t make the Clouds. We can influence the rate of growth and the area of growth of  in the first 20 Days of the contract the group made 17 Cloud seeding flights during six Days of seeding work with Silver iodide. The More powerful Piper Aztec was used for penetration seeding in which canisters of burning Silver iodide Are dropped into the Cloud providing nuclei around which Cloud droplets form. The Piper Comanche was used for Cloud base seeding which relies on up drafts to carry the particles of Silver iodide into the Cloud. Dry ice is sometimes used Jordi son said and there has been some work with urea in the tropics. The seeding starts when the potential Raincloud is 20 minutes upwind from the target area and stops 20 minutes before the Cloud reaches the other Border. On rain you can look from a 20 to 25 percent increase Over Normal Jordison said. And in Hail suppression you can expect from 70 to 90 percent reduction in a  there is no pollution to speak of said Jordison of the release of Silver iodide particles. It s like dipping your hands into your pockets for Silver or salting your breakfast  Farmers should have started the Cloud seeding late in May or Early in june Jordi son said. They were desperate because they Are losing $1 million each Day it does t  working with Jordison were pilots Del Keith of York neb., and Bill Wickman of Des Moines Iowa and radar Man Greg Fetter of Champaign 111. There s never been a fatality in weather modification work said Jordison add ing however that work near a thunders torm can be dangerous. The average thunderstorm packs Power equivalent to three Hiroshima  they scanned the radar the meteorologists were on the Lookout for Hook Scal lop Loop or Finger formations in Clouds that sometimes indicate a Tornado. Keith 42, who has a Bachelor s degree in music and a master s in school administration was superintendent of schools in con de ., before becoming a Pilot and flying  had a Brush with a twister while Fly ing a weather modification Mission near Beresford  His rude Jolt came after a Hook formation was observed on radar he  Felt much As if the air plane stopped and started up  said the Cowling on the left engine and the leading Edge of the left Wing were damaged from the apparent Brush with the Tornado funnel but he landed the plane safely. Another close Call came As he was seeding for Snow in the mountains near Elko Nev. The storm we had seeded drifted to wards us said Keith. It ended with a near ceiling Zero Landing at the Airport. There even Are dangers on the ground. Some people just Don t believe you should fool around with the weather Jor Dison said. I be had a couple of people shoot at me. And then there were a couple of Drunken texans who walked in and threatened to dismember the radar station with their  said Illinois regulations on weather modification Are As Tough As they come tougher than necessary is my be  course you have to have regulations but the ones in Illinois have Cost the farm ers on this project an extra $10,000. We were required to have an extra Pilot and an extra radar Man because of All the data Illi Nois requires. And normally we provide plenty of  target area for the project included 600 Square Miles and Illinois regulations require one Pilot for each 500 Square Miles. We have talked to our state representative about the regulations Church said. Richard Semonin assistant chief of the atmospheric science Section of the Illinois state water Survey at the University of Illinois defended state Laws and regulations on weather modification saying that data Over an extended period is needed to deter mine the effectiveness of the work. Illinois is among More than 30 states which have weather Modifica Tion Laws. Illinois has a Model Law he said. In Diana and Minnesota have leaned very heavily on the Illinois Law in developing their  Semonin said weather modification efforts in Illinois in modern times Date Back to the Early 1950s. Once he said Farmers near Royal did t have enough Money to finance a Silver iodide seeding program so they took up water in 50-gallon Drums in air planes. They dumped the water through the Clouds without much Success As one of them put it he said. As for the prime reason behind the state s Tough regulation Semonin said we just Don t want any people driving around Illinois in pickup trucks with Black smoke coming out of purple boxes and say ing they will make it  rainmakers Del Keith and Greg Fetter Haven t had much Luck in bringing rain to the drought stricken Fields of Southern Illinois