BISMARCK – Cloud seeding concluded for the District II operations area of the 2019 North Dakota Cloud Modification Project on Sept. 1. For the season, there were 333.11 flight hours flown in the district, which included McKenzie, Mountrail, Ward and Williams counties. Of those hours, 264.96 were flown for hail suppression, 27.62 for rain enhancement, 23.62 for reconnaissance and 16.91 for aircraft repositioning, according to a release from NDCMP.

Overall, 2019 District II flight hours were well below the 10-year average of 431.39 hours. There were 40 operational days out of a possible 92 project days when hail suppression, rain enhancement and/or reconnaissance flights were flown in the district. Hail suppression operations were flown on 26 of the operational days, rain enhancement on seven days and reconnaissance operations on 17 days.

Planning meetings for the 2020 NDCMP will be held in January. Seeding operations are currently scheduled to resume June 1.