Wyoming Weather Modification Program: Projects
Operations
Medicine Bow and Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges
Airborne Cloud Seeding Operations 2018-2019 Winter Operations Annual Report
Airborne Cloud Seeding Operations 2019-2020 Winter Operations Annual Report
Airborne Cloud Seeding Operations 2020-2021 Winter Operations Annual Report
Airborne Cloud Seeding Operations 2021-2022 Winter Operations Annual Report
With the completion of the Medicine Bow and Sierra Madre Ranges Siting and Design Study in 2017, airborne cloud seeding operations were approved and scheduled to begin for the winter of 2018-2019. This program is expected to run November 15, 2018 through March 31, 2019, barring any potential suspension. One aircraft (Beechcraft King Air C90), owned and operated by Weather Modification International and based at the Cheyenne Regional Airport, will be conducting cloud seeding operations over the mountain ranges for the season. Cloud seeding efforts in this part of the state will assist in increasing water supplies in the North Platte River Basin within Wyoming.
Funding for operational cloud seeding in the Medicine Bow and Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges have been provided in part by the Wyoming State Legislature. The City of Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities is also a contributing funding partner for this program, as the majority of Cheyenne's drinking water is directly reliant on winter snow pack.
Never Summer Mountain Range
In collaboration with the Jackson County Water Conservancy District in Walden, Colorado, and with the completion of the "Airborne Cloud Seeding in Northern Colorado as an Extension of Seeding Operations Conducted for Southern Wyoming" study, the WWDO is allowing for opportunities to extend cloud seeding over the western side of the Never Summer Mountain Range to seed the headwaters of the North Platte within Upper North Platte River Basin. All efforts to seed the Never Summer Mountain Range comes as a second priority to seeding the Wyoming mountains and is paid for by the Jackson County Water Conservancy District.
This extension of cloud seeding is of benefit to Wyoming, as any additional snow pack over the Never Summer Mountain Range drains into Wyoming's North Platte River Basin. The WWDO is excited to have this type of partnership, as it allows for the state's cloud seeding programs to grow and also gain support from other regional entities and water users.
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