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I read somewhere that Utah "seeds clouds" with propane and some kinda silver to enhance snowfall. Is this true? And if so, does it really work? If it works, is this something you take into account when forcasting snowfall amounts? Thanks for your time!
John S. Riverdale, Utah
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Propane? Well that I can't say yes to but I'll look up some info. As far as I know, clouds are seeded with Silver Iodide this is not a new thing though and cloud seeding research has been happening for decades. If you're into Sci-Fi reading, the author Kurt Vonnegut's brother Bernard was a cloud seeding researcher and wrote many a fine paper.
Even up at the U of U they have scientists working on how to seed clouds more efficiently by using less chemicals and more natural sources in our own atmosphere. They even have a cool cloud box! There's a link to an article about how they are trying to do this on the right.
The concept of cloud seeding begins by looking at what makes up a cloud droplet. Inside each cloud droplet is what's called a cloud condensation nuclei or CCN. These can be anything from a spec of dust to a piece of pollution. By putting some sort of CCN into the atmosphere, theoretically, you should be able to then create a cloud.
In using silver iodide it has not been proven that any amounts for seeding are hurting the environment. Some places actually have more silver in the ground than what is being used to seed clouds. There are over 40 countries which have used cloud seeding to generate precipitation.
Some cloud seeding happens during the winter to increase the orographic precipitation in the mountains to add to water in the watershed. Summertime seeding is used to increase rainfall or to try to reduce damage from hail producing storms.
The silver iodide can be dropped by an airplane or it can come from generators on the ground. On the link to the right you can find out more on cloud seeding and see if your county in Utah has participated in such an event.
I don't know of any current cloud seeding projects along the Wasatch front that would effect snow totals. However, if we were notified of seeding going on at one given time and there was an incoming storm, certainly, it would affect the forecast.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
