Howell Called To Rain Task

University meterologist Wallace E. Howell, who returned to Cambridge when a one-inch rainfall Thursday made his services temporarily unnecessary, will be off to New York again today to continue that city's $50,000 rainmaking experiment.

On a false alarm Saturday morning, 600 pounds of dry ice were rushed to Floyd Bennett Field. Clouds had formed over the city's watershed areas and the rainmakers vainly hoped that weather conditions would permit the first experiments over the weekend.

All the equipment necessary for attempts this week is ready at the airfield for the first opportunity afforded by the weather, according to Edward E. Clark, chief engineer of the New York City Department of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity.

The extensive equipment includes a machine for crushing the dry ice into pellets, which will arrive at the airport this afternoon; a radio for communication between the ground crews and the panes; an ice-scattering device for one of the planes, and possibly a radar unit.

Howell intends to conduct the first tests in the Catskill Mountains, north of the city. Two Police Department planes will scatter the dry ice pellets on cloud formations in hopes of precipating rain.

"We've got everything set," Clark said Saturday. "We're waiting to hear from Dr. Howell. As soon as he is ready to go, we're ready."