Brains
Rainmaker is a company that increases snowpack by utilizing cloud seeding and operates over the course of the winter to increase snowfall by about 10-20%. This fall, Rainmaker will commence the largest American cloud seeding program in modern history. Its operations in the Bear River Basin, the largest watershed feeding the Great Salt Lake, will increase water supply and support drought resilience in Utah, Idaho, and other Western states.
“The Great Salt Lake is an environmental disaster, a half a million acre feet below its threshold. If we want to do something, we’ve got to do something quick,” Rainmaker’s Parker Cardwell said in a video call with SnowBrains. Cardwell has been around since the company’s beginning and admits to wearing many hats at the Oregon-based business. From its humble beginnings in Umatilla, Rainmaker expanded quickly across the United States, with operations in California, Utah, Idaho, and Texas. Internationally, the cloud seeding company has worked in the Middle East and South America.
In Utah, the state receives 95% of its water supply from snowpack during the winter, and cloud seeding can be a game-changer. Therefore, Rainmaker targets maximizing this snowpack, linking winter recreation to spring and summer water needs, with campaigns like “Save Our Snow” and “Snow to Stream Flow.” By increasing Utah’s snowpack, it not only brings more snow to the slopes at ski resorts in the winter, but it also provides more sustainable drinkable water in the summer for farmers, cities, and communities. “Our main focus is to increase snowpack, which is the same snow that we’re skiing on in the wintertime, and is the same water that you’re drinking in the springtime,” Cardwell said.
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While cloud seeding may sound futuristic, it has actually been around for almost 80 years. The first cloud-seeding experiment was conducted on November 13, 1946, by Vincent Joseph Schaefer near the town of Schenectady, New York, resulting in the rapid formation of ice crystals and subsequent snowfall. Technological advances mean that today drones are used to drop silver iodide into supercooled clouds, which act as catalyst for ice crystal formation without altering the weather unnaturally. “What cloud seeding does is just mimic the natural process of precipitation. You have supercooled liquid water in clouds, and we introduce a mineral that has the same shape as ice, to make it really easy for that water to just condense onto it and freeze,” Cardwell explained.
Rainmaker’s cloud seeding operations can range in size and can cover 200 to 300 square miles per drone team, with effects visible 15 to 45 minutes after seeding, lasting one to two hours downwind. The company uses large drones weighing 45 to 50 pounds and uses very small amounts of silver iodide to conduct operations. “We actually only use like 50 grams of the material of silver iodide, which is like 10 Skittles worth,” Cardwell stated. “So a very, very small amount.”
Collaborations with state governments to increase water volume are Rainmaker’s bread and butter. While water management is a shared responsibility between federal and state government, the state manages the maintaining water supplies. Therefore most cloud seeding activities in the United States are funded at state or sometimes local level. As of July 2024, cloud seeding programs were active in nine states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming
There is also a natural alliance with Rainmaker and ski resorts for producing quality snow. “Working with ski resorts is like a great natural ally, most of our team are skiers and snowboarders, so we’re obviously really stoked to do that,” Cardwell said. “Save our Snow” is something that Rainmaker has been very focused on because snowpack is so critical. There’s a stewardship component, and the ski industry is uniquely excited to support, according to Cardwell.
Cloud seeding works best for mountain ranges with orographic lift and supercooled clouds, which are around 21°F or colder. Orographic lift occurs when air is forced to rise and cool due to terrain features such as hills or mountains. If the cooling is sufficient, water vapor condenses into clouds, and additional cooling results in rain or snow, according to the National Weather Service. Therefore, any mountain range that provides these conditions would be suitable for cloud seeding, even in the East, where Cardwell sees untapped potential.
While East Coast ski resorts are spending millions on upgrading their snowmaking capabilities, trying to offset the warmer temperatures, Cardwell believes that cloud seeding could work very well in regions like the Northeast where brutal cold snaps are common. According to Cardwell, cloud seeding could be a great alternative or supplemental option for those resorts. The snow produced by cloud seeding is the same as natural snow. “It’s the same snow that’s in the clouds that you would get on a powder day, but quality is going to be better, it’s from nature,” Cardwell said. Costs are comparable to resort snowmaking systems, so with a more natural snow feel than artificial snow, Cardwell sees cloud-seeding as a serious option for the East.
This fall, Rainmaker commences the largest American cloud seeding program in modern history, with its operations in the Bear River Basin, which will increase water supply and support drought resilience in Utah, Idaho, and other Western states. Rainmaker is hosting a private event to celebrate this milestone on Friday, November 7, in Salt Lake City. This collaborative event, highlighting Rainmaker’s quick setup to address the Great Salt Lake’s crisis, involves state officials and focuses on supply innovation. Guests invited include Utah’s Governor Cox and State Representative Maloy, where representatives from Rainmaker will discuss its operations and give an in-depth look at our technology. The cloud seeding company has also invited various folks from the outdoor recreation industry, ski resorts, and townships surrounding SLC. Rainmaker is also planning a demonstration of its drone operations.
Rainmaker’s cloud seeding capabilities create the ability to provide reliable water resources when Mother Nature can’t provide. This fall’s Bear River Basin program will pump 10 to 20% more snowpack into a dying Great Salt Lake watershed, delivering real water to farms, cities, and communities alike. Looking to the future, cloud seeding could provide the solution needed to solve the water shortages and lower snowpacks around the country. ‘There’s an SOS call: Save our snow.’ Because the same snow we ski in winter is the water we drink in spring. By working hand in hand with nature, we’re not just making powder days, we’re filling the future, one cloud at a time,” Cardwell said.
Cloud seeding is effective, safe, and proven. The process can increase total annual precipitation levels in a region by as much as 20%. Above all, it is entirely safe: the amount of silver from samples in regions with decades-long cloud seeding programs is still millions of times lower than EPA safety guidelines. Cloud seeding is proven by science, and the safety of cloud seeding has been extensively studied by researchers in the United States ever since the technology was invented 80 years ago.
