These tours have begun hiring meteorologists as well.
Friday's meeting, attended by Defra officials and meteorologists as well as business representatives, was one of a series of government-held emergency meetings to monitor and respond to the drought situation.
"We're retailers, not meteorologists, and as long as the weather affects our business, we have to do something about it," says James Mergott, director of supply-chain strategy at Sears.
Mr. Avila, whose mother lives in Cuba, sees his work with Cuban meteorologists as apolitical.
A heat wave is defined by meteorologists as at least three consecutive days of 90-degree temperatures or higher.
It was New York's first, and last, foray into rain-making, now known more generally among meteorologists as "weather modification".
By involving such mainstream meteorologists as Dr Shah in his work, Dr Kanani hopes to bring his unusual research to the attention of national institutions.
Before computers ushered in the technique known to meteorologists as numerical weather prediction, forecasting had more in common with artful guesswork than scientific mapping.
At 5 a.m., the storm — now known to meteorologists as a post-tropical cyclone — was roughly 90 miles west of Philadelphia and was expected to take a turn north later on Tuesday.
