[en] The Bowen Electric Generating Plant (Plant Bowen) in Northwest Georgia has been chosen as a test site to investigate the atmospheric effects of cooling towers. This 3,200-MWe coal-fired power plant uses four natural-draft cooling towers and is the largest of U.S. power plants having cooling towers as the sole cooling method. Results are reported from both climatological and field studies. Extensive use has been made of the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) data accumulated over several decades in Northwest Georgia. Apart from providing preliminary indications of precipitation modification effects, these data have aided in the general understanding of the climatology in the vicinity of Plant Bowen and have paved the way for the field studies currently underway. These field studies, employing a dense network of rain gauges and windsets, are expected to provide the statistical data base necessary to estimate the plant's effect (if any) on precipitation