posted 02-25-2004 12:52 PM            

Serving Big Bear Lake, California

Wednesday
February 25, 2004

Cloud seeding-could it work in Big Bear Valley?

By JUDI BOWERS

In 1924 local merchants in Big Bear were in dire straights facing another dry year. Knowing something needed to be done, Charles Hatfield was hired in February. Known as the rainmaker, he erected a tower somewhere between Big Bear and Baldwin lakes and proceeded to make rain, or so the story goes. By the end of March 1924, precipitation was above normal.

Was Hatfield responsible for the increase in the rain and snow that year? There is no scientific evidence to support either side and just what type of magic the rainmaker used isn't known. But the magic being considered 80 years later is commonly known as cloud seeding.

Tom Henderson of Atmospherics Incorporated of Fresno, told a group of Valley leaders and citizens gathered at a Big Bear Municipal Water District meeting Feb. 19 that he has been involved in weather modification almost since its inception. Working for the power company in Bishop, he was asked to review plans for a cloud modification project brought out by General Electric.

"I thought they were nuts," Henderson said.
Nuts or not, Henderson helped design an experiment in regard to cloud seeding and within three years the Department of Commerce provided a statistician to measure the effect on the Bishop Creek watershed. Henderson said there was about a 9 percent increase and "that got me going then."

Henderson started his own company 10 years later and is a certified meteorology consultant, although he calls himself a frustrated hydrologist.

Cloud modification was discovered by accident in the mid 1940s and has evolved into a viable process used all over the world today. Cloud seeding involves the use of silver iodide sprinkled into clouds either from the ground or air. The process super cools droplets of water in the clouds to form ice crystals and eventually rain or snow.

Cloud seeding is not a cure for drought Henderson said. "Unless you have clouds that are the right kinds of clouds, there's nothing you can do with this technology," he said. "You can only increase the amount of precipitation that otherwise would have occurred." Precipitation increases on average between 10 and 12 percent, Henderson said.

Cloud seeding, while a scientific process, is really very simple. It can be done from the ground with a propane-operated generator or from the air with a plane flying above or through the clouds. The silver iodide converts the ice crystals in the clouds into moisture. Henderson's team is on site where the seeding takes place, ready to go at any time. Constantly monitoring the weather though Doppler radar, pilots are ready to go whenever the conditions are right.

Henderson's company is working on several projects, mostly in Northern California. However, cloud seeding is being done all over the country and the state, including Southern California. San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara have all been involved with cloud seeding, Henderson said.

Atmospherics Incorporated is doing seeding projects in the Kern, Kings and the Merced river areas as well as the Sierra Nevada. He is also working on the longest running cloud seeding project in the world in San Joaquin, in operation since 1950.

The Feb. 19 meeting was attended by a number of people dependent on weather, water in particular, in the Valley, including marina owners and ski resort operators. Michael Perry, city manager for Big Bear Lake, told the City Council Feb. 25 that Valley water department managers have added cloud seeding to their monthly meeting agenda.

Perry said the project, as explained by Henderson, seems like a viable option for Big Bear with seeding done in August, December, January, February and March. The water managers will consider a trip to Fresno to see base operations for Atmospherics Incorporated and may cost share in a pilot project in the Valley. Dick Kun, president of Big Bear Mountain Resorts, will be invited to the water manager's meeting and on the trip, Perry said.

Cloud seeding is not new to the Big Bear Valley and surrounding areas. Approximately 25 years ago, Henderson said North American Weather Consultants conducted a ground generator seeding project. According to historian Tom Core, there were ground generators located in Sugarloaf, in the Village area and at the damkeeper's house.

In October 1977 the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District planned a cloud seeding project targeting the upper Santa Ana River and its tributaries, including Bear Creek, according to a story in the Sept. 1, 1977, edition of Big Bear Life and The Grizzly.

The cost of cloud seeding varies depending on length of service. The costs are based on fixed costs plus consumables, Henderson said of his company. As an example, the Kern River project is a five-month seeding process and is $150,000 to $160,000 a year. San Joaquin is a year-round seeding project and averages about $360,000 a year, Henderson said.

posted 02-27-2004 08:50 PM            

You said-"Can some one give some feedback on this as it appears nuts to me?"

What did you mean? That people have the ability to seed clouds and affect the weather or that they actually do it?

I think if you are just finding out about seeding it probably does seem strange, as I know it did to me also, and still does. But if you are unfamiliar with all of the other chemtrail/,geoengineering, cloud creation, UV blocking,ozone filtering,Earth shading, ph balancing, communication altering, and even human life and health affecting schemes and programs, then you are really going to be surprised. The information out there now is being added to each day and what is happening above our heads (and all around us) is mind boggling. This site CTC has some great resources and links and alot of very aware folks. Hope you find the Truth.

By the way here is a link just on cloud seeding from the company you mentioned ai. Some of the cloud seeding programs they mention are rainfall, snow, fog, lightning, hail and devastating winds from severe storms. Just a so called "drop in the bucket."
http://www.atmos-inc.com/weamod.html