Cloud Seeding Used in This Week's Storm

Our neighbors just north have taken the need for rain into their own hands.

This past Monday, Los Angeles County skies were seeded for the first time since 2002 as El Nino hit the coast.

Clouds above Los Angeles could produce 15 percent more rain as a result of seeding, the county estimated.

But what is seeding?

Cloud seeding is the use of silver iodide, which is purposefully sprayed into the sky from airplanes. Some believe the introduction of these particulars increases and expedites rainfall in seeded areas.

However, scientists are not as certain.

“There’s no scientist who actually thinks that cloud seeding works,” Lynn Russell, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at Scripps Institute, explained in a previous interview.

Studies have not been able to find a statistical significant difference between seeded cloud’s rain production and cloud’s that were not seeded, according to Russell.

Unlike Los Angeles, San Diego did not try this technique while El Nino was in town. San Diego skies are too dry and lack even the smallest bit of water so seeding may be useless.

While there are no known environmental dangers of cloud seeding, Russell urges that any prolonged alteration to the environment can be harmful.