In the aftermath of the catastrophic flash flooding in Central Texas, false claims have spread online blaming the disaster on a decades-old weather modification technique called cloud seeding.
Posts suggesting a connection between the deadly floods and a small cloud seeding operation that was carried out in the region days earlier have been shared widely on social media, amassing millions of views.
Rainmaker Technology, a California-based company, confirmed it conducted a cloud seeding operation in the region on July 2. However, meteorologists say the operation had no connection to the flash floods that struck two days later.
Experts told CBS News that cloud seeding, a process that involves dispersing substances like silver iodide into clouds to encourage rainfall, is not powerful enough to have caused or contributed to the flooding. The deluge resulted from heavy rainfall when storms converged with the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry.
Some prominent politicians have repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories linking weather modification to natural disasters, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. This week, the Republican congresswoman promoted legislation that would make weather modification a felony and shared a photo of Rainmaker’s CEO in a social media post criticizing cloud seeding. Her office has not responded to CBS News’ request for comment.
What is cloud seeding?
Developed in the 1940s, dozens of countries have tried cloud seeding to enhance precipitation in recent years, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. Some ski resorts have also used the technique to try to boost snowfall.
Meteorologists and weather experts say cloud seeding did not cause the deadly Texas floods.
Travis Herzog, a Houston-based meteorologist, said cloud seeding can only enhance rainfall in existing clouds by up to 20% — nowhere near enough to create devastating flooding of the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, where waters reached the height of a two-story building in less than an hour on July 4.
“Cloud seeding cannot create a storm of this magnitude or size. In fact, cloud seeding cannot even create a single cloud,” Herzog said in a post on social media.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci echoed the point on X, writing: “Cloud seeding played ZERO role in deadly Texas floods. Rudimentary, basic physics explains that.”
CBS News meteorologist Scott Padgett said it’s implausible that the cloud seeding operation on July 2 worsened flood conditions in the impacted area, which has long been called “Flash Flood Alley,” since it has one of the highest risks of flash flooding in the U.S, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority.
“The combination of the steep terrain and the poor absorbing soil coupled with downbursts of heavy rain led to a textbook case for flash flooding,” Padgett said.
Rainmaker CEO Augustus Doricko published flight logs of the company’s operation in the area after online speculation over the cause of the flooding.
Doricko said the company’s most recent operation took place the afternoon of July 2 when two small clouds were seeded in Runge, Texas — which is about 150 miles south of Kerr County, where the worst flooding later occurred. Those seeded clouds dissipated within hours.
Such a short operation could not have affected the broader atmospheric conditions that fueled the disaster, Doricko said. The company had been paid to try to boost the water supply in the reservoirs and aquifers in the area, but quickly suspended operations after their meteorologist noticed an inflow of moisture coming in from the Gulf.
“The natural disaster in the Texan Hill Country is a tragedy. My prayers are with Texas. Rainmaker did not operate in the affected area on the 3rd or 4th or contribute to the floods that occurred over the region,” Doricko said.
Rainmaker employees have received multiple threats on the company website and on X since the flooding event, a spokesperson said.
Cloud seeding operations must be reported to the federal government at least 10 days in advance. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which manages the reports, confirmed to CBS News that Rainmaker filed an initial activity report in February noting its intention to hire a contractor to conduct cloud seeding.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also publicly rejected the claims swirling about it this week. “To the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to weather modification,” the Republican senator said. “And look, the internet can be a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.”
Conspiracy theories involving cloud seeding and weather modification often spike after major weather events. Similar claims circulated after past flooding in Dubai, the California wildfires, and hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Misinformation researcher Abbie Richards said some people turn to such theories in order to help them emotionally cope with overwhelming tragedies.
“I think that the more emotionally overwhelming it is, the more likely we are to just see high volumes of conspiracy theories to cope and make people feel like they have control,” Richards told CBS News in January.
