Cloud seeding

[bvibert]

Did anyone else the cloud seeding article in one of the recent SKI magazine issues? I had no idea that it was a widely used as it is. They use seed generators to disperse particles in the air during storms that are supposed to promote snow crystals to form, kind of like the stuff they add to snow making water to help ice crystals form I guess. Pretty interesting stuff. Some ski areas are dropping a lot of dough to have storms heading their way seeded, but it sounds like the benefits aren't even really proven yet. Seems like a big gamble to me. Anyone else know anything about it??

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Did anyone else the cloud seeding article in one of the recent SKI magazine issues? I had no idea that it was a widely used as it is. They use seed generators to disperse particles in the air during storms that are supposed to promote snow crystals to form, kind of like the stuff they add to snow making water to help ice crystals form I guess. Pretty interesting stuff. Some ski areas are dropping a lot of dough to have storms heading their way seeded, but it sounds like the benefits aren't even really proven yet. Seems like a big gamble to me. Anyone else know anything about it??

Yeah, lots of places do it. It's done quite a lot here in CO. They're essentially seeding clouds with high-temp nucleators [typically silver iodide or dry ice (which induces spontaneous freezing)] so that the moisture will freeze and crystallize. I know of two ways of doing it: fly through with a dispersal plane (like fertilizing a field, but in the clouds), or a ground based system that releases the particles into the clouds as they pass overhead.

 

[bvibert]

The article said that the plane method wasn't as widely used anymore since the ground systems came into the scene. Then again I'm not sure that SKI magazine is the best source for that kind of info.

Still it's pretty cool stuff to me that I really never thought too much about.

 

[threecy]

If anything, the NE could use cloud dispersal - getting rid of cloud cover at night can help snowmaking significantly.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

They do Cloud Seeding in Wyoming over the Grand Tetons..

 

[bvibert]

Hmm.. I guess no one else finds this stuff interesting. I'm surprised with all the weather geeks on this forum...

 

[AdironRider]

I say its worth a shot.

 

[thebigo]

I think skircher replied in the challenge that cloud seeding was far less efficient than traditional snowmaking, from a cost perspective.