Did the Chinese make it snow?
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NOAA MODIS satellite image shows snow cover plume in Mongolia and China Monday.
Meteorologists from the Chinese Weather Modification office say they made it snow in Beijing last weekend. Several inches of snow fell in the Chinese capital. It was the earliest snow in a decade for Beijing.
Reports from the BBC indicate the team sprayed 186 doses of silver iodide into the clouds west of Beijing to enhance rainfall for the drought stricken wheat crop. The subsequent heavy wet snow led to the success claims at weather modification.
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The big question is, how do we know if they're right? The effectiveness of seeding clouds is questioned by many scientists. There is no good way to verify the efficacy of enhanced precipitation through weather modification. How much snow would have fallen without seeding the clouds?
If you look at the satellite image above you can see that the snowfall plume stretch back over 1,000 miles to the northwest in Mongolia. It is difficult to believe that weather modification attempts near Beijing cause snow to fall hundreds of miles to the northwest. Obviously there was already a massive snow system in progress long before it reached Beijing.
Sort of a Mongolian Clipper, if you will.
Weather modification remains an area of study in many locations in the USA. There are active programs in North Dakota and Nevada.
Stay tuned.
PH