First rain dispersal operation for an Olympic Games

A total of 1,104 rain dispersal rockets were fired from 21 sites in Beijing, China, on 8 August 2008 to ensure that the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games were unaffected by predicted wet weather. It was the largest rain dispersal operation undertaken in China and the first time that such technology had been used to control the weather for an Olympic Games opening ceremony. The rockets were fired between 4 pm and 11:39 pm on the evening of the opening ceremony, held at the open-air Bird's Nest National Stadium on 8 August 2008, and they successfully intercepted a band of rain moving towards the venue that was expected to coincide with the opening ceremony. It was reported that there was a 41 per cent chance of rain on the evening of 8 August. It is argued that Beijing took this action to clear the air of pollution rather than prevent rainfall at the opening ceremony. "A technology developed by American scientists, cloud seeding is achieved by shooting shells or rockets containing silver iodide particles into clouds. The icy particles freeze drops in the clouds, make the drops continue growing and eventually fall out of the clouds."