551.582.1 (86):551.

588

Local Weather of the Chicama Vafley (Pera).

By
Wallace E. Ilowell, Cambridge (USA).
With 3 Figures.

Abstract. Diurnal weather changos are dominont on the Paoific coast

of Pci-u to en exoeptional dogree because of its tropical location aud the
absence of strong migratory pressure systems. Beneath the easterlies that
.pro-,,a] aloft, air is drawn inland from below the trade inversion by the sea
breeze; this air floods the valleys of the western Andes, is heated and lifted
there, and is rnodified by lateral mixing with Pacific air aboye the trade
inversion.
Despite the reeurront diurnal pattern, rainfail over the Chicama Valley
vares widely from day to day. Its oceurrence is dependent partly upon
the stability relationship between the modified Pacifio air and the overlying
easterlies, partly upon the moisture and stability within each air mass.
The local pattern of rainfali is determined mostly by local orography, but
its oceurrence or non-000urrence is governed Iargely by air-mass charactenistics
aasociated with the large-scale weathei situation.
Zusammenlassung. Wetterwechsel ini Laufe des Tages treten en den
Pazifikkste von Peru wegen ibrer Lage in den Trepen ui -id wegen des Fehlens
wandernder starker Druckstrungen nur ausnahmsweise auf. AuBer der
Oststrsmung, dio in den Hohe vorherrscht, str5mt dio Luft untezhalb den
Passatinversion infolge der Seebnise 1andeinwrts; diese Luft berflutet die
Tejer der westlichen Anden, wird hier erwArmt ui-id gehoben und erfhrt
gewisse Veriinderungen durch seitlicheni Austauceh mit den Pazifikluft ober-
haib der Passatinversion.
Trotz der taglichen Wiederholurig zeigt der Niedersohlag tibor dein
Chicama-Tal goBe Sehwankungen von Tag zu Tag; sein Auftreten bengt
teilweize von den Stabi1it1tsverhltnissen zwisehen der modifizierten Pazifik-
luft und der darber lagernden Oststromung ab, teilweise von den Feuehtigkeit
und don StabiTitdt innerha]h jeder der beiden Luftmassen. Die lokale Aus-
prdgung der Niederschlagsverhitltnisse ist in enston Linie durch dio lokale
Orographie bedingt, das Auftreten oder Ausbisiben von Niederschlag Mngt
dagegen in weitem lJmlang von den durch die Grollwetterlage bedingten
Luftmasseneigenschaften ab.
Rsum. Des changements journaliers de tenips se produisent d'une
manire exceptionnelle sur la cate pruvienne du Pacifique cause de ca
42 W. E. HOWELL:

situation tropicale et de I'absence de fortes porturbations mobiles de pression.

Outre le eourant d'Est dominant en ltitude, ji existe, sons l'inversion de
I'alfz, une brise de mor qui pntre dans les valles des Andes occidentales,
s'y rchanffe, s'lva et subis cortamos modifications par mlange ayee l'air
chi Pacifique an-deseus de i'inversion de i'aliz.
En dpit de la rptition journalire, les prcipitatione de la valle de
Chicama varient fortement d'un jour i'autre; leur apparition dpend en
partie des eonditions de stabilit entre l'air du Pacifique modifi et le courant
d'Est sup rieur, en partie de i'humidit et de la stabilit internes de ces doux
masses. L'allure locaie de ces prcipitations est conditionne en premier
lieu par l'orographie; par contre leur prsence ou leur absenee dpeud dans
une largo mesure des proprits que la situation mtorologique gnrale
confort aux rnasses d'air en jeu.

1. Introduction.
It is sri apparent paradox that in a part o the world never visited
by the, energetic storms o the westerly wind belt flor yet by tropical
cyolones, a part o the world moreover where diurnal iufluences ami the
purely local infhjenoes o orography are at a madmum, rainfali exhibits
variations o great magnitude from day to day iii both aniount and
location. Yet this is the situation in the Ohicama Valloy and in other
nearby valleys in the western Andes of Peru. Wind, temperature, pressure,
and most features o the clouds follow a cioseiy repetitivo regimen day
after day; yet tlae ono weather elenient most necessary for iife on the
dcsert littorai seeme to behave with utter caprice.
The advent o cloud seeding for the artifical stimulation o ra.in has
given ths paradox added importance, for efforts at cloud seeding will go
largely to waste uniese they are oioseiy eoordinated with cloud formationo
and developments that provide locally favorable conditiona for rainfail
stimulation, In the same measure, an understanding o the causes o
the day-to-day variationa in the pattern o rainfall would lead the way
toward accurate prediotion o at least the major features o coming
patterns ami oonsequently toward inoreasingly effeotive use of cloud seeding.
With these matters in mmd, a study was undertaken for the ptlrpose
o seeking an understauding o the local weather of the Ohicama Valley
aud applying it for the furtheranoe of practical ende. The firat step
was to observe ancl describe in as muoh detail as possible the progrese
o the local weatlaer for a nunaber o days. Observation was followed
by an attempt to analyze observed featuros of the weather in terms
o simple wind circulations working in association with each other.
From the analysis, it is poasibie to draw conclusions that largely resolve
the paradox.

II. Phys!cal Pescription of thc Chicama ValIey.

The Rio Chicama drains the elopes of the Andes west o the continental
divide md is a consequ.ent stream o typical dendritic form. Ita situation
witb respect to adjacent walirsheds, mountain rangos, etc., ja shown on
 Local Weather of the Chicama Valley (Peru). 43

the map, Fig. 1. The continental divide in this portion of its eourse
pasees throgb rolling grasslarid, at one time extensively peneplaned,
eurmounted by rocky hule that rse 500 to 1000 feet (150-300 m) aboy
the general level of the grasaland. The mean elevation of the divide
is from 12000 to 14300 feet (3600-4300 m). Although steep ravines
come at places te within less than one kilometer from the divide on
the Pacifie side, the bigbland ir, nowhere breaohed by deep pasees connect-
ing the coastal valleys with those of the interior, and the divide forme
therefore an unbroken and regular barrier to the air stream. To the

Carta
g-faotoai,ura.. .......

erra
5 CapaI/oc
\5'acaa,a6a
1
Sa a,giio

. Carros
: Tuatigo&.a'

Moahe YaI/c,
Dzean

*........
Traji/4
78 80 317 48 3d(n7

Fig. 1. Map of the Chicama Valley of Pero.

east the latid falle away gradually for about twenty kilometers over
sucoeseive grassy benches separated by rocky terraces, and finaily over
an escarpment about 1500 feet (450 m.) high into the valley of the Rio
Cajamarca and Rio Condebamba.
On the Pacifio side of the divide, oxcept where spurs of upland run
westward to Cerro Contumaza and Cerro Tuanga, the grassland falle
off abruptly into steep V-shaped ravines, relieved by lees steeply sioping
benches at disconnected levcs mostly aboye 8000 feet (2400 m) elevation.
Below 6000 feet (1800 in) elevation, nearly a.11 sopes are steep and eroded.
The Ro Chicama, aboye a point about five kilometers upstream from
Pampas de Jaguey, is an actively downcutting stream. Below that
point it is fihling up ite valley and building up the coastal plain over
whieh its waters are epread for irrigation. The principal northern tributary
that rises near Sunebubamba, forme a basin about twenty-five kilometers in
length and breadth between the upland spur en the north and ridges rising
to about 14500 feet altitude behind Sayapuio oit tbe south. The head
of this basin le in turn subdivided hito smaller basins a few kilometers
44 W. E. Howsu

in length aud breadth. The basin of the Agua Blanca is the only ono
of these that actually extends to the divide (at Cerro Capalloc). The
others hayo their heads in the high grassl&nd west of the divide.

III. Dcscriptions of Typical Days.

Periods of rainyor dryweather during the rainy season at Sunchubamba
usually last for several days, but the diurnal cycle in both rainy and dry
periods is very marked. Iii describing the local weather typical of tbese
periods it is therefore appropiate to describe typical rainy and dry days
as unite.
A rany day (20 Fe5ua?y 1952).
This dey was preceded by two days with good rains ami foUowed by a
dey with diminished ram. At 0700 E' the sky as observed from Sunohubamba
was covered by a nearly continuous layer of crrostratus deudo moving from
ENE, showing banded otructure with the banda in a SENW direetion.
Tbe edgo of this layer could be seen in the distanco toward the WSW. Strato.
cumulus clouds wero moving across the divide from the east at moderato
spoed, dissipating within a few kilometers to the weat of tlae divide. A few
stationary stratocumulus lenticularis were observed over Cerro Contusnaza.
The wind at the ground was eaot two miles por hour and steady. By 0845 E
the cirrostratus overjiead liad beoome thinner, the atratocumujus wore
beeoming somewhat thiokor, sud stratus was observed in the floor of the
Chicama Valley moving slowly eastward During the next three honro the
cirroatratus continued te beconze thinner asid alternated with cirrus filosus.
Moderately rapid motion of these donde was observed. The etratocumulus
became gradually more cumu1iform in character, especially over Cerro
Tuanga, Cerro Conturnaza, asid Isheavilea, but without developing luto
towering cumulus ab that time. Observation of cloud shadows near bbc
divido showed the apeed of the wind at the cumulus level te be about
35 miles por hour frorn tlie east. Tlie stratus in the valloy rose steadily,
separating into two parts, which hugged either sido of the valley, leaving
1e center part unclouded.
Where the stra.tus tonehed against. the mountain siopes, cumuli-forur
parts developed which by 1130 E were becoming casteilatod asid reaching
toward the level of the atratocumuhis base. During the succeeding hour
ami three-quarter, castellated cumulus clonds of small size repeatedly asuso
ab a few favored points from the valley stratus, while bbc valley donde moved
gradually higher, still retaining the cloud-free band over the center of the
vailey. The stratoeumulus bogan to take on the duplicatus forre, producing
en upper layer approximately 4000 feet higher tizan its base, this upper layar
advancing ovor the valley as altocumulus cumulogenitus. Meanwhule over
Cerro Tuanga, Cerro Contuinaza, a.nd Isheavilce, blie otratoctunulus becazne
largo rounded cumulus. At 1300 E the top of the valley clouds reached bhe
lovel of Hacienda Sunchubamba.
Ab 1305 E tlie clouds over Cerro Contusnaza suddenly doveloped a cmnulus
tower which, however, broke np and diseipatod, drifting westwerd. Fifteen
minutes labor e second cumulus tower developod whioh ascended wth great

1 E = Eastern Standard = time of the 75 meridiarz.

 Local Weather of the Chicama Valley (Peru). 45

epeed to an altitude estimated at 24000. feet aud soon became a typical

cumulonimbus. Meanwhile tho clouds in the valisy advanced steadily eastward
toward the divide, reaching it at 1400 E and surrouxiding Cerro CapaUoc and
the Kanzel.
Froni 1230 E to 1400 E tbe clouds to the east of the divide had been
observed to be mostly largo cumulus bumilis, with bases in the Condebaxnba
Valley somewhat lower than the elevation of the divide. In the distance,
heavy lenticular clouds were visible that appeared to be east of the Rio
Marafion 70 km or more to the ENE. A largo cumulonirnbus was visible
just south of theso clouds and appcarod to remain stationary while producing
a largo amount of cirrus aud cirrostratus connected witb the layer of these
clouds observed over Sunchubamba. Just before the low clouds closed in
ayer the Kanzel, clouds over the ridge wast of Cajabamba we.re observod to
be growing rapidly and bocoming cumulus congestus.
Shortly after 1400 E further visual observation became impoesible becauso
the cloude enveloped the Kanzel. At 1810 E a heavy shower, accompanied
by a single lightning discharge, occurred between Sunchubamba and thc
Kanzel, and at 1645 E a similar shower occurred, also accompanied by a
single lightning diseharge. At 1715 E the rain turned to drizzle that continued
until 2000 E. The rainfail measured at Sunehubamba was 18 mullimcters.
The synoptic weather chart for South Amerioa en this day showed tbat
the shear Une resulting from the intrusion of eooler air from the south was
moving northward ayer Central Peru, accompanied by sharp fa}.ls of pressure
along the eoast of Peru, as well as over the mountains. General rairiy condition
provailed from the altiplano of northern Bolivia to Ecuador.

A rainy day (26 Fchruary 1952).

This day was preceded by a day with moderate rain and followed bv a
day of unusually heavy ram.
At 0700 E the sky over Sunchubamba was overcast with stratocumulus
clouds, whose bases were at. about 14000 feet elevation, moving very slowly
from ENE. Over the upper Chicama basin stroamers o virga were seen
failing from a portion of the cloud layer darker than the rest. Westward
from Ishcavilca was another region where rain appeared to be failing from
the stratocuxnulus. The wind at the groimd was variable and very light,
mostly froni the west. At 0740 E amail amounts of fractostratus were
observed in the bottom of the valley, moving slowly upward and hugging
the mountain siopes. At 0800 E rain could be asen failing over the divide
aboye Sunchubamba, the area of rain moving westward and reaching Sun-
chubamba at 0815 E. Light rain fell until 1000 E, when the atratocumulus
layer broke up aud became fractostratus revealing nimbostratus aboye.
At 1015 E, after tho rain had stopped, the fractostratus overhead again
became st.ratocumulus, but remained broken to scattered, assuming lenticular
forme and diesipating over the valley. Later in the day, at about 1300 E,
tlie wind at the ground st Sunchubamba becarne westerly and the valley
elouds developed further, enshrouding Sunchubamba at 1445 E. During
the afternoon light drizzle feil which turned to light rain at 1700 E and
ended st about 1900 E. Later in the night heavy rain felI from the divide
as far westward as Tambo, causing a largo mud elide in the Rio Sunchubamba.
The most striking feature of the synoptio weather chart for South Amones
aa this day was the presenee of su exceptionally strong cyclone off the
46 W. E. Howu

southern tip of the eontiuent with a well developed migratory anticylone

centered at 40 0 south, 53 0 west it appears that the anticyclone caused
unusual strengthening of tbe high-level easterly winds over Peru, and heavy
rabia were general from central Bolivia northward to Columbia.

A dry day (23 Februairy 1952).

This day was preceded by one with very limited rabia and followed by
one with only light drizzle in the late aftornoon
At 0700 E the sky was overcast at Suncliubamba with stratocumuius
cloud bases at about 13000 feot elevation, moving moderately rapidlly from
tbe east. Through breaks in these clouds it could be seen that they were
about 2000 feet thick with a few altociunulus lenticulasis st about 18000 feet
elevation over the crest of the divide, aleo moving from the east. A few
shreds of cirrus filosus were seen moving from the ENE moderately rapidly.
By 0730 E wisps of fractostratus were visible moving slowly upward along
tbe upper siopes up the mountain, and the stratoeumulus was becoming
broken. During the forenoon the cirrus disappeared. The etratocumulus
deepened to a dopth of about 4000 feet over the divide, the lower portions
of these donde diesipating rapidly over the valley whiie the upper portione
formed altocumulue cumulogenitus which spread as lar west,ward as thc
plains in a thin layer st about 17000 feet elevation. By 1130 E the fract.o-
stratus in the valley liad thiekened sud beome a broken layer of stratocumulus
with its base st 10000 feet, elevatin.
By the early afternoon this eloud layer had merged over tbe ridge with
tbe stratocumulus layer aboye it. As the aftornoon progressed, the alto
cumulus layor beeame more brokou and the valley stratocu.mulus gradually
incroased in amount to a complete overcast. Its baso became lower, showing a
distinct siope dowuward toward the lower Chicama Valloy. In the late afternoon
tbe amount of stratocwnulus again diminished somewhat and through breaks
the altocumulus eould still be seen aboye it,, heavy and dark, but without
any sigu of virgs. Dio clouds contiaued so until after sunsot.
The synoptic weather chart br South Axnerica on this day showed rapid
filling both of a Pacific cyclone off the southern tip of the continent and of
libe thermal low in Bolivia. Pressure gradiente throughout the map were
very weak and pressure systems poorly defined.

IV. Typial Weather of tbe Seasbore.

The picture of the weather in the Ohicama Valley given bythepreoeding
descriptions neede to be amplified sud extended by adding a description
of the weather typical of the seashor, The weather of the littoral is
dominated by the coid Humbolt Current off the coast of Peru sud by
tbe layer of cooJ sir that overlies it. During the summer, this layer
varios in depth from a few hundred p to one or oven two thousand feet,
and often coutains etratus or stratocumulus olouds, espccially when it
is deeper than usual. At thc top of tbis layer is su inversion aboye which
tbe ah' is oloudless except for oeca.sional altocumulus or related high donde.
Near the shore a typical esabreeze is found. Setting in as a gentie
breeze from the south ja the forenoon, it mercases u strength until
about 1600, by whieh time it generaily reaches a strcngth of force 4 or 5
 Local Weather of the Chicama Valley (Peru). 47

o Beaufort scale, and cijas down in the evening. Only ocoaionafly is

it replaced by a nocturnal land breeze, and the latter is never more
than weak and transient, near the time o sunrise.
During tbe day the cloudiness in the lower layar diminishes near the
shore. Ovar the land, the air bocemos markedly unstable near tha ground,
and the height te which active convection penetrates morcases rapidly
with distauce inland from the shore until it rises te the ever.present
inversion.
V. Analysis of the Chicama Valley Weather.
The Chicama Vallay, lying close to tha equator and being Iargely under
the influence o sub-tropical high pressure celis, experien ces relatively
small changos in moot weather elements due to large-seale weather
processas,d a larga part o the chango is therefore diurnal in nature.
The diurnal influences in the form o valley a.nd mountain winds and sea
breeza find olear and regular expression, aud dominate many features
o tha daily weather.
Bacause o the near-equatorial location and the presance nearby
offshore o the coid Humbolt Current, the land is predoininantly warmer
tban tbe sea, and tha circulation most o the time is tberefore inshora
from the sea at low leveLs, and upslope along tha mountainsides, with
a retnrn flow seawards and downwards aloft and over the valleys. Only
durhig tho lattar part o tbe uight is the cooling sufficiently strong te
reverso this pattern and cause downslope winds at the gronud, and
then often only at the higher elevations where net outgoing radiation
is greater. On tIte other hand, the general win.d system brings air from
tbe eastward across the divide toward the Pacific at high leveis witb
greal regularity during the rainy season anci less regularly during tbe
dry season wheri it is often interrupted by a monsoon eurrent from the
northwest. Since the Chicama Valley lies in general under the east
end o the subtropical anticyclorie o the eastern South Pacifio, fhe air
at micidle leveis is gerieraily subsiding polar air that is moving riorthward
from tbe belt o southern hemisphere westerlies, and hence it is generaily
cloudieso and relatively dry.
TIto typical combined picture of air motions resulting from the general
easterly wind, the subsiding middle layer, the strong daytime valley
wind and sea breeze, and tIte weak nocturnal rnountain wind and land
breeze, is as foliows. In the early forenoon, the easterly current from
the Amazon prevails everywhere east o the divide and at altitudes
roughly aboye 10000 feet (3000 m) west o the divide, tIte speed o the
wind being generaily iight except where it is intensified by the barrier
effcct over the crest of the divide. In the floors o the valleys on the
Paoific side, coid air drainage from the nocturnal 000ling fifls the valleys
in their upper portions to ari elevation o approximately 3000 fact (900 ni),
the top o the cool ah sioping downward toward the sea and merging
with the top o the inversion over the coid Pacifie water at an elevation
o approximately 2500 feet (70 m). Between tIte overriding eastrly
48 W. E. Howpi

current and the cooied air lies a body of air that during previous days
was brought in from the Pacifie at iow leveis, heated over the laud, and
thereafter is continuousiy rnodified by iarge-scale lateral mixing with
warm, dry subsiding a.ir in the Pa.cifio. anticyclone. This body of air
we shall cali the Paeitk intermediate laycr; this soheme of things is
iliustrated in Fig. 2.
As solar heating of the land. progressos during the day, onshore winds
develop near tho coast which bring in a stream of sir like a diurnal tide
approximately a kilometer deep, reaching a mean speed in tite onshore
direetion of approximately 15 kilomoters por hour. Thus, for eaeh
Idiometer of shoreline the volume of tho ground iayer of air is inereased
by approxirriately 15 cubie kilometers each hour, ca.using the layer to

#aze

Fig. 2. Ear1y-nirning ah flow axiS eloufflness: lauS breze.

doepen over its oxtent of approximately 60 kilometers inland from tite

coast by approximately ono kilometer every four hours. At the same
time, however, a certain volume of air in this body escapes from it in
tho heated skin of air that moyos upward alang the mountain siopes
as a valiey wind.
During tite oariy and middle part of the day, therofore, ono sees the
top of tito early morning valley stratus riso and seos the flanks of this
cloud deck whore it touches tite mountain toru off and carried upward,
at first to dissipate but later, as the ourrent becamos stronger, to rise as
atratocumuias or cumulus over ridges where up..currents are most favored
by the conforma.tion of the land. Near the divido, where during the
night the easterly curront prevailed, abetted by tho nocturnal down-
siope drift, the upslope wind nieets, opposes, and gradually overcomes
the easterly wind, advancing the point of meet.ing gradually eastward
until it comes to tite divide.
What happens next in the diurnal cycle deponds upon the contrast
botween the overrunning air masa from the East and. tite Pacific air
benoatit it. If the oasteriies aro warm and atable, in comparison with
the lower air, tite sea-breeze and valley-wind systein continuos to dovelop
beneatit thom but thoro is no substantial penetration or disturbance of
 Local Weather of the Chicama Valley (Peru). 49

the easterlies. la tbis case, heavy stratooumiilus and cumulus cloudiness

may envelop the mountains west of the divide aud blanket the valleys,
but rainfali of more than drizzle intensity does not develop. On the other
hand, if , the easterlies are unstable, or cool enugh in comparison with
tbe Pacifie air so that overtnrning occure, then not only may the Pacific
air rise upward to feed thimderheads reaching great elevatione, bat also
tbe ah from the Amazon may be caused to overturn through realization
of convective or conditional instabiity, or tbrough dynamic inetability
of the airstream. T5nder these circurnstanoes, illustrated in Fig. 3, large
showers wilI be induced te form over the parte of the terrain most favored

Fig. a. Afternoon airflow and elaudinesa: sea breeze ard valley wind,

for rising ab eurrents, sud wffl move witb the direction of drift of the
high-level casterlies.
Li watching the advance of tlie seabreeze afr np the valIey, its strong
resemblance to a rising tide is noticeable; sud the ab clearly appears
to be carried forward by ita momeatum beyond the point where it is
in hydrostatie balance witb ita surroundings. It is likely that under
favorable circumstanees something like a tidal bore may oceur, bririging
a sudden surge of sir to the divide that may set off cumulonimbus clouds
with great suddenness and vigor. It is possible that sucb an event
occurred at 11330 E en 20 February 1952, as deseribed in an earlier
paragraph.
After the daytime heating has ceased, tbe situation returris graduallv
te that prevailing during the early mornirig. The large cloud maeses
gradully subside and dissipate, and the rainfall that became active ja
the late ofternoor or early evening gradually diminisbes. Substantial
nocturnal rain ma.y occur if the cloude in the Pacifio sir are seeded by
even amali amounts of ram coming from higher leveis, but such ram
will be lees intense ah4 leas showery than during tho daytime.
Arch. Met. Geoph. Bioki. B. Bd. 6, U. 1.
50 W. E. HOWELL:

During the day, the air that la most heated n.ear the mountain siopes
escapes from the Pacifie surface layer and rises into the Pacific inter-
mediato Iayer, where much of the moisture it carnes is intermixed with
that layer, moistoning it. Furthermore, the flood tide of Pacifio am
brought into the west-drairiing Andean valleys by the combined sea-
breeze valley-wind system doce not all return in the nocturnal ebb;
for as was pointed out carlier, the daytime heating exceeds in magnitude
the diurnal cooling. In this way, the upper portion of each day's flood
tide becomes, dunirig the night, the lowest part of the Pacific intermediate
layen for thc foliowing day, and the corresponding haze horizonsometimes
more than one, representing successive days of ebb and flowcan usually
be identified by ah observers flying along the coast. Wbile the Pacifio
intermediate ah thus acquires moisture from the heating of the Pacifio
surface layen beneatb it, moisture is carnied away by' large-scale lateral
mixinig with the dry, subsiding middle leveis of the South Pacific sub-
tropical anticyclone, aud by the loas and replacement of ah due to the
general wind,
VI. Conclusions.
The analysis of' the relationship between the dinmal wind systems
of the Chicama region and the overrunning ah froni the eastward makes
it poasible te resolve the paradox that in a situation where the diurnal
influcnoes are predominant in almost every respect and where local
features of the terrain aro aIl-irnportaut in governing air rnotions, yet
the performance of tho weather in regard to rainfali vares tremeudously
from day to day both as to the qua.ntity of rainfail and as to where it
falis. Evcn though the general patteru of ab motions repeats itself
day after day, the particular reaction that makes substantial rainfali
possible depends largely upon tbe wind in tho easterlies and the character
of tbe sir that they bring; aud changes in these are in turn determined
not by local influences but by large-scale influences entirely beyond the
scope of the local picture.
Tho local terrain may be regarded as harving the properties of structure;
inherent in the structurc sud peculiar to it are certain patterns of response
to particular stimuli. Ini operating fon the purpose of inereasing the
rainfail, effeotiveness depends alike upon knowledge of the responses that
will result from certain stimuli and upon expert prediction and exploita.tion
o the stimuli that wihl be provided by the day-to-day weather situation.
The terrain may be likened fo a piano in which responses are determine
by the relation between keys aud strings, a piano upon which the weather
playa themes that are often distressingly poor in the harmonies that mean
ram. Cloud seeding gives us the power to strike additional keys; but to
ennich the harmonios we must botb uuderstand the key-to-string relation-
ships iii thepiano and be able to predict and chume in with the theme
being plsyed by the weather.
Both from observation of the local weather conditionis and weather
records in the Chicama Vahley, sud from analysis of the phenomena