Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Make it Rain! Cloud Seeding Program

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Cloud Seeding Webinar

For those interested in learning more about how cloud seeding works, DRI and Save Red Rock hosted a public webinar on Thursday, September 8th:

View the Webinar

In the News

Red Rock Canyon is suffering from extreme drought, and that’s why Save Red Rock is partnering with the scientists at DRI on a groundbreaking new cloud seeding program with potential to bring millions of gallons of much-needed rain and snowmelt to our thirsty canyon! You can donate to help us Make It Rain in Red Rock Canyon and make it snow on Mt Charleston.

Cloud seeding is used all over the world as a method for enhancing winter snowfall and increasing mountain snowpack, supplementing the natural water supply available to ecosystems of the surrounding area. DRI has been pioneering winter cloud seeding programs since the early 1960s. They now offer time-tested cloud seeding methods that are proven to enhance snowfall from winter clouds in six mountain ranges, including Lake Tahoe Basin (CA/NV), Spring Mountains (NV), Santa Rosa Mountains (NV), San Juan Mountains (CO), and in the Upper Colorado River Headwaters region (CO).

How it Works

Clouds are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that form when water vapor in the atmosphere cools and condenses around a tiny particle of dust or salt floating in the atmosphere. Without those particles, known as ice nuclei, raindrops or snowflakes cannot form, and precipitation will not occur. Cloud seeding introduces tiny ice nuclei into subfreezing clouds. After cloud seeding, the newly formed snowflakes grow and fall to the surface of the earth. Ground-based generators are operated remotely by meteorologists. When storm systems move through the cloud seeding project area, a solution containing a small amount of silver iodide is activated from the ground-based generator. Upon reaching the cloud, the silver iodide acts as a condensation nuclei to aid in the formation of precipitation. Projects run during the winter season from November to May.

Why Now?

Reduced precipitation in Spring Mountains
Drought conditions in Nevada
Second driest year to date in over 100 years of observation

Measured Success

Operational cloud seeding projects have been the subject of bountiful research since the 1950s and 1960s. DRI’s team of meteorologists monitor the results of their cloud seeding operations through a network of precipitation stations, and measurements of trace silver iodide. The effectiveness of cloud seeding differs from project to project, but long-term cloud seeding projects over the mountains of Nevada and other parts of the world have been shown to increase the overall snowpack in targeted areas by 10% or more per year. DRI’s last project in Lee Canyon proved even more successful, generating 5,656 acre feet, or approximately 1.8 billion gallons.

Cloud Seeding Equipment

Ground based generators are currently designed for winter seeding. The units contain a main solution tank which holds 72 gallons of seeding agent. Seeding agents are typically silver iodide, a non-toxic and naturally occurring compound, which creates the greatest yield of snowflakes in this temperature region.

Water Producing Capacity

A previous generator in the area was shown to add 5,500+ acre feet of snow water equivalent (swe) = 1.7 billion gallons. Additional generators have the capability of adding additional 5,500+ acre/feet of snow water equivalent in excess of 1.7 billion gallons each. The full water output is dependent on the number of natural storms that develop during the winter season, and their ability to be seeded. The right cloud conditions are necessary in order to wring out the extra moisture.

DRI Researcher works in the mountains with a winter cloud seed generator.

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2022-2023 Cloud Seeder Area

The Blue shaded area is the cloud seeding target area and the red dot is the approximate generator site in Lovell Canyon, which is in Red Rock National Conservation Area.

Melt, runoff, and percolation from the Spring Mountains snowpack is the primary mechanism for groundwater recharge of the numerous springs and aquifers across the region. A secondary recharge can come from thunderstorms associated with the summer monsoon. 2018-2019 one generator cloud seeding program was conducted in the Spring Mountains, in a similar location.

16 storms were seeded with 101 hours of generator operations
Cloud seeding was 22,400 acres
Cloud seeding produced 1 inch of additional snow every 3+ hours
The total Snow Water Equivalent increase for the winter was estimated at 5,656 acre-feet (or approx 1.7 billion gallons) of water.

Thank You To Our Donors!

Jeremy Burkhardt
Jeremy Burkhardt is Chairman of Origin Acoustics and former CEO, architect, and co-founder of SpeakerCraft, Inc., once the world’s largest manufacturer of architectural speakers and custom installation products. In addition to being a leader in the residential architectural custom electronics industry, Burkhardt is a Las Vegas resident and lover of the outdoors.
www.originacoustics.com