Is Cloud Seeding Causing all this Snow?

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Story Published: Jan 31, 2008 at 6:00 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 7, 2008 at 12:17 PM MST

By Nate Eaton

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For the first time in several years, Eastern Idaho is experimenting with a cloud seeding program this winter. That's when iodized crystals are shot into clouds to produce snow.

Last year Paul Romrell knew something had to be done to get Eastern Idaho out of a drought.

Paul Romrell, Cloud Seeding Chairman: "I was really frustrated. I thought that we should do everything humanly possible to generate as much water as possible."

That meant Paul and a committee contacted cities and counties in our area asking them to support a weather modification, or cloud seeding, program.

Romrell: "You wait until you've got the right atmosphere and fire up a generator and you introduce into the flames silver iodized crystals which go up into the atmosphere."

Those crystals then turn into snow. Right now there's 23 generators running in Eastern Idaho all of them in rugged areas. Every time a storm's about to move in, those generators are turned on.

Romrell: "We're actually making some difference although we can't claim any credit for the snow that we're seeing in the valley because it's not in our target areas."

The $110,000 project is being paid for by all the parties involved and cloud seeding will continue in Eastern Idaho until 2013.

Romrell: "Over a 5 year period you'll probably increase your snow pack somewhere between 10 and 20 percent."

The cloud seeding committee will get a report in the spring to see how effective the program was this year.

Again, it will continue for five years. Experts say that's how long it takes to see how good it worked out.

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