X-Ray Day WaS quite succe=f ul, the run reaching 80,000 feet. The
coding of the winds for transmission at 5,000 foot intervals above
20,000 feet was de-d

inadequate;first, because the exact location

of the sheer level was important and second, the rate of iateral
diffusion ani the subsequent visual character of the atomic cloud
could only be predicted by detailed upper wind observations.
Instmctions we~

therefore issued to code all levels of the balloon

rune in 1,000 foot intervals during the period from noon of the
previous day to ~on of the day of the scheduled shot. In addition,
high level balloon runs were schedulad for subsequent firings at H
Hour minus three ad

H Hour plus two.

c. A tendencywas noted to believe the weather observations
taken one to three hours before explosion time would be representative
of the weather at zero tinm. Cloui masses in the lower westerly winds
can, as a rule, be expected to migrate uith these wlmls ami the
future positions of any si.gnlficantcloti areas can be fairly accurately
extrapolated. However, in the X-Ray situationwhere nearly clear
skies prevailed at ni@t, it had been previously noted that this
condition appeared to correlatewith the rapid developannt of showers
at dawn, and this development could obviously not be reported by the
aircraft. The need exists for analertnesa on the part of the
meteorologistfor new weather developmentswhich will not be reported
by aircraft reconnaissanceno matter how comprehensiveami current
the local weather observationsmay be.

@

SECTION XXI

Select target paragraph3