Cloud Seeding Not Linked to Texas Floods Experts Confirm

After this fall’s massive deluge in Texas brought at least two inches of rain to some areas, the role of cloud seeding came under scrutiny. Atmospheric scientists widely refuted allegations that a new cloud-seeding operation was responsible for the region’s flooding. In each case, they highlighted the flimsy evidence provided to justify such claims. Bob…

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Cloud Seeding Not Linked to Texas Floods Experts Confirm

After this fall’s massive deluge in Texas brought at least two inches of rain to some areas, the role of cloud seeding came under scrutiny. Atmospheric scientists widely refuted allegations that a new cloud-seeding operation was responsible for the region’s flooding. In each case, they highlighted the flimsy evidence provided to justify such claims. Bob Rauber, professor at the University of Illinois, explained that cloud seeding had nothing to do with the recent storm. Katja Friedrich, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, agreed.

Cloud seeding has been conducted in the United States since the 1950s. It’s a well known term during the winter months around our western mountain ranges. Rauber and Friedrich kicked off a year-long study of its effectiveness across Idaho in early 2017. While its impacts on precipitation are still a developing research frontier, the work of … shored up meaningful foundation. Their findings showed that cloud seeding could reasonably supplant additive equivalent to 186 million additional gallons of precipitation—assuming ideal conditions for the seeding.

In light of the past two weeks’ flooding, Rauber didn’t mince words. He announced, “It’s just total hoax, complete conspiracy, somebody’s–somebody’s got to find somebody to blame.” He added that any impact from Rainmaker, the cloud-seeding contractor that had worked in the area just before the storm, would have been negligible. He stressed that these effects would be minimal. If Rainmaker produced a positive impact on the storm, it was an insignificant effect, almost a rounding error,” he continued.

The atmospheric conditions that existed during the Texas storm were not appropriate for cloud seeding. Rauber noted, “Those clouds are very efficient. Seeding those clouds is not going to do anything.” He said that the air mass affecting Texas likely originated in Canada days before the storm. This rendered any cloud-seeding efforts ineffective.

The effectiveness of cloud seeding can fluctuate greatly based on the specific type and conditions of clouds. It has been shown to be effective in parched Western states where moisture-laden clouds can be seeded. Its efficacy on brown clouds of the type that predominate in summertime thunderstorms across Texas still is unproven.

Rauber noted that we need to understand how much water the atmosphere is actually able to handle. This is especially important when we discuss extreme weather events, like the flooding we experienced this past summer. We’re talking about a gigantic storm that caused catastrophic flooding all across the state of Texas. The water equivalent of trillions of gallons went through the atmosphere during this phenomenon,” he told me.

As drought continues to worsen throughout the west, the role of cloud seeding in mitigation has sparked widespread interest and investment in the technology. As Rauber described, it could be cost-effective depending on the data that’s already available. Putting AI to work The goal now is figuring out what AI can really do to help — and what it can’t.