Claim of Weather manipulation in WaPo article

Qualiall

Member
Apologies first for the ugly link below.. At work and WaPo is blocked here.

In a May 9th, 2014 article in the Washington Post, entitled "Putin visits Crimea to mark Soviet Victory in World War II", the claim is made that the "[Russian] government seeded clouds in advance so they disappeared."

This seems unlikely. Is there any validity to such a claim? I'm sure the CT folk might point this out as "proof" of chemcloud weather manipulation.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQqQIoADAA&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/putin-speaks-at-russian-victory-day-parade-in-moscows-red-square/2014/05/09/e41230b9-b30c-48c2-b52a-bfdab1170e65_story.html&ei=qfVsU_vhD9amyASeooDAAg&usg=AFQjCNEx991szwYLNqSazNsOJdE-O5Iwsw&sig2=Y5inAMSdwIQ_deX-km7n_Q&bvm=bv.66330100,d.aWw
 
I apologise I cannot quote on my phone but the article makes no mention of cloud seeding in Crimea but does mention cloud seeding for a Moscow rally. Cloud seeding by the Russians is common knowledge as far as I am aware
 
I apologise I cannot quote on my phone but the article makes no mention of cloud seeding in Crimea but does mention cloud seeding for a Moscow rally. Cloud seeding by the Russians is common knowledge as far as I am aware

Is it possible that "cloud seeding" is used in order to disperse clouds? Is THAT the intent?
 
Yep

I like this article which describes a guy in an aircraft doorway shovelling cement out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8587725.stm
WOW! I can't believe they would actually shovel cement out of the aircraft to disperse rain clouds. This is a first for me. As far as I've come to learn, everyone has been discussing weather manipulation in terms of "creating" clouds. Now I discover how the Russians have been doing the complete opposite. I wonder though, how reliable is this source? I know cement absorbs water, but wouldn't that mean cement would be falling from the sky. The powdery mix would absorb water and fall to the ground, Right?
 
WOW! I can't believe they would actually shovel cement out of the aircraft to disperse rain clouds. This is a first for me. As far as I've come to learn, everyone has been discussing weather manipulation in terms of "creating" clouds. Now I discover how the Russians have been doing the complete opposite. I wonder though, how reliable is this source? I know cement absorbs water, but wouldn't that mean cement would be falling from the sky. The powdery mix would absorb water and fall to the ground, Right?
Sometimes bags of cement fall through a roof
http://www.universetoday.com/15189/when-cloud-seeding-goes-wrong-cement-chunk-falls-from-the-sky/
 
This seems unlikely. Is there any validity to such a claim? I'm sure the CT folk might point this out as "proof" of chemcloud weather manipulation.

Not quite. It is weather manipulation, in the sense that clouds rain off, ideally (it's disputed whether the effects are really tenable). But it's not chemclouds, since the idea is not to create clouds, but to disperse them.
 
I see no mention of weather/clouds at all. Was the article changed?
Wow. I think it may of been. I remember a paragraph talking about the parade to the Kremlin and "cloud seeding". I apologise I did not screenshot, but I feel it was the same comment the OP refers to
 
Here is a feature from German television about the unit responsible for the "blue sky over Moskau" which is also the title of the film.

Dispersing concrete powder is also mentioned in the course of the story.

http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=playset&obj=21910

As many other special units they struggled against being obsoleted during the decay of the Soviet Union, and have turned to self-promotion. Successfully, it seems.
 
Thats just crazy and irresponsible. I think Russia should learn how to celebrate indoors, rather than dumping cement into clouds to eliminate them.
do you have any idea how long it takes to curl your hair properly for your wedding? rain is not your friend. :eek:
 
And just for clarity, the key point from above:
  • Cloud seeding is a real technology that has been used commercially and openly since the 1950s
  • Cloud seeding does not make cloud, it makes cloud precipitate (rain or snow) by adding nuclei (seeds)
  • Russia does cloud seeding to clear the clouds by making them precipitate away before they arrive in Moscow.
  • It's unclear exactly how well it works, as weather is pretty random anyway
The BBC article the Dave linked above covers all this very well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8587725.stm
 
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