Hi Rachel.
I am a meteorologist. ️
Cloud seeding had nothing to do with the flooding in Texas last week and here’s why.
?
Cloud seeding is a type of “weather modification” involving injection… https://t.co/obdTrkQseT pic.twitter.com/mTVkFrDTQH
— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) July 9, 2025
I am a meteorologist. ️
Cloud seeding had nothing to do with the flooding in Texas last week and here’s why.
Cloud seeding is a type of “weather modification” involving injection of chemicals—usually silver iodide (AgI) or dry ice (solid CO₂)—into an cloud by aircraft to augment the formation of larger liquid water droplets and/or ice crystals. If successful, this can slightly enhance a cloud’s precipitation. ️
This practice has routinely been executed in the U.S. by both the federal government and private contractors since the 1940s. The primary objective of these missions is to enhance rainfall or snowpack in drought-stricken areas to improve irrigation for local farmers or disperse fog banks at airports to prevent travel disruptions.
https://swc.nd.gov/arb/ndcmp/
Clouds are composed of tiny liquid water droplets or ice crystals (not invisible gaseous water vapor, like many think) called ℎ (hence the term “meteorology.” However, in order for water vapor in the atmosphere to condense (that is, go from gas to liquid) or deposit (go from gas to solid), it requires a surface called “cloud condensation nuclei” (CCN).
CCN are small particles with diameters of about 0.2 μm (0.0002 mm) which are hygroscopic, meaning that they act as collection sites for condensation. Things like specks of dust, salt crystals or smoke particles can act as CNN when present in a moist air mass. This added solute effect lowers the saturation vapor (i.e., the partial pressure of water vapor that is required for the atmosphere to be in equilibrium, that is the rate of evaporation equals the rate of condensation), making it easier for condensation to occur. ☁️
The vast majority of clouds do not precipitate since their droplets or ice crystals stay too small for Earth’s gravitational acceleration to pull them towards the ground and remain suspended due to updrafts. Thus, when hygroscopic particles like silver iodide or dry ice are introduced, they can boost droplet or ice crystal formation in clouds.
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/80/5/1520-0477_1999_080_0805_arocse_2_0_co_2.xml
However, most seeding experiments find it increases rainfall by only up to 15%, but most estimates are less than that.
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/apme/53/2/jamc-d-13-0128.1.xml
Yes, “weather modification” is done in Texas. ✈️
https://tdlr.texas.gov/weather/weathermodmap.htm
However, there are strict laws and regulations in the Lone Star State about exactly where and when it can be conducted. For instance, cloud seeding is prohibited in systems where the National Weather Service (NWS) has posted a flash flood and/or severe thunderstorm warning. ⚠️
https://tdlr.texas.gov/weather/laws-rules.htm#laws
https://houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/article/cloud-seeding-texas-weather-modification-floods-20758960.php
The July 2nd cloud seeding operation conducted by Rainmaker Technology Corporation, which has been singled out by social media users, could not in any way have caused or contributed to the flash flooding along the Guadalupe River on Friday morning.
As I said before, only clouds can be seeded, and this mission was carried out two days before the floods some 150 miles SOUTHEAST of San Antonio. And, weather models had indicated flooding potential days in advance. So, if cloud seeding was responsible for this, numerical weather prediction models would not have picked up on it.
By suggesting cloud seeding is causing floods like the one in the Texas Hill Country over the weekend, or the recent floods in New Mexico and Chicago, people on the right are admitting to a false premise that flooding today is more common and extreme than it was in the decades before, when there is little to no evidence of that being the case, at least in Texas.
https://epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-river-flooding
#
Watch: Rainmaker CEO addresses concerns about cloud seeding after Texas floods – Rainmaker Tech Corporation CEO Augustus Doricko addresses concerns around cloud seeding and other weather modification practices on ‘The Will Cain Show’ after deadly floods hit Texas.
– July 09, 2025
July 3, 2023
August 26, 2023
Michio Kaku, a physics professor at City College of New York: “Even in [the] sixties, the CIA used this to bring down monsoons during the Vietnam War to wash out the Vietcong.”
Kaku: “Instead of doing a rain dance, we physicists are firing trillion watt lasers into the sky to actually precipitate rain clouds and actually bring down lightning bolts. This is potentially a game-changer.”
“It is experimental, however in the laboratory, so far it works when you have water vapor and you have dust particles or ice crystals. You can precipitate rain. It condenses around the seeds. These seeds can also be created by laser beams by firing trillion watt lasers you rip apart the electrons creating what I call ions and these ions act like seeds like dust particles bringing down rain and even lightning.”
CBS News anchor Nora O’Donnell: “They were talking about climate change yesterday and now we’re learning that scientists and researchers are looking at how to change the weather on purpose. That’s right. Lasers now could one day manipulate rain and lightning.”
November 19, 2023
April 28, 2024
November 22, 2021
August 9, 2022
