PHOENIX (AZFamily) — As Dubai continues to clean up following a massive historic flood earlier this week, initial questions were if cloud seeding was to blame, but experts now say it did not play a role.
Weather experts at the University of Arizona said they’re hoping all these questions about it will highlight how beneficial it can be for desert climates like our own.
Cloud seeding enhances a cloud to drop more rain and snow by adding tiny ice nuclei to the cloud.
“You either use a plane or a ground-based cannon. You shoot the particles into the clouds, or you fly above the clouds and drop these particles into the clouds,” said Atmospheric Science professor Xubin Zeng with the university. He said the practice began in the 1940s, “initially as military research.”
Professor Zeng said cloud seeding could be helpful to desert climate areas that need more rain but would not be the sole solution.
If everything goes well, Zeng said cloud seeding can only add up to an extra 10 to 15% more rain or snowfall. “Only under certain conditions, most of the time it’s very difficult,” he says.
Some companies in Arizona are currently researching the benefits cloud seeding can have in the state.
The Salt River Project said it is still in the computer simulation phase of its research. The Central Arizona Project said it is working on studies and funding for cloud seeding in the upper Colorado River basin, primarily in Wyoming and Utah.
Some states, like Utah, offer funding for cloud seeding research. Last year, they directed $12 million to their program. Arizona does not have something similar right now.
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