Utah Startup Boosts Snowfall 20% Without Chemicals

While Utah battles record snow droughts threatening water supplies and wildfire risks, a startup claims it's making clouds produce 20% more snow using nothing but electricity.

Rain Enhancement Technologies set up a simple device in the mountains: two 8-meter poles connected by wire carrying 10,000 volts. When air passes through, tiny particles like dust pick up an electric charge, the same way shuffling your feet on carpet builds up static.

Wind carries these charged particles into clouds, where something remarkable happens. Water droplets that normally bounce off each other start sticking together because of electrical attraction. They grow heavy enough to fall as snow or rain.

The company tested their technology over five winters in Utah's La Sal mountains. When they flipped the switch in January, the range received 9 centimeters more snow than neighboring mountains without the device.

Unlike traditional cloud seeding programs in nine US states, this approach doesn't spray silver iodide or other chemicals from planes. That matters because ten states have banned or considered banning cloud seeding over health concerns, and public trust remains shaky around weather modification.

The technology can't create clouds or force air upward. But once nature forms a cloud, the charged particles help squeeze more precipitation from it. The system runs remotely for 48 hours at a time with the flip of a switch from anywhere in the world.

Similar trials show promise elsewhere. A six-year experiment in Oman increased rainfall by 10 to 14 percent. Chinese researchers using the same approach reported 20% more precipitation.

Why This Inspires

This technology arrives as the United Nations warns the world is entering an era of "water bankruptcy," with up to three in four people facing water scarcity. Countries like Iran, where water shortages sparked deadly protests, are desperately seeking solutions.

Scientists urge caution before celebrating too soon. Snowfall varies wildly from year to year, and what looks like success could be chance. Five years of data may not capture the full picture of how mountain snowpack naturally fluctuates.

Researchers want more experimental studies across more seasons before confirming the technology truly works. But the early results offer something increasingly rare in water-stressed regions: a chemical-free path toward hope.

For drought-stricken communities watching reservoirs drop and wildfire seasons lengthen, even the possibility of coaxing more water from winter storms feels like a win worth pursuing.