Hailstorms and Hail Suppression Techniques in the U.S.S.R.—

Abstract

This paper reports the results from the latest in a series of scientific exchanges concerning the Soviet anti-hail program. Additional details on the Soviet technique of hail suppression were learned. An impression on the types of storms and the accompanying synoptic conditions was gained. In addition to visual impressions, some case studies are presented. The North Caucasus region resembles northeastern Colorado from a topographical and meteorological point of view, except that a dry line or dew-point front is not normally present north of the Caucasus Mountains. The abundance of low-level moisture in this region seems to produce storms which resemble cloud streets in that lines of storms are aligned with the wind rather than normal to the wind. Although the large supercell and multicell storms typical of the High Plains of North America do occur in the Caucasus region, they are rare and the Soviet scientists are apparently unable to suppress all the hail on these types of storms.