Japan has the first artificial rain after 12 years

Tokyo, Japan, on August 21, used a cloud-generating device to cause rain after the water levels in the dams supplying the metropolitan area fell below normal.

This is the first artificial rain in the last 12 years.

Two rain generators were activated around 2 pm the same day. The city government said the 10mm rain had appeared upstream of the Ogouchi Dam in the Tamagawa River three hours later and the 11mm rain appeared in the river downstream from 2 pm.

A Tokyo government official in charge of the project said: 'The upstream rain may be the result of the device's work.'

These rain-generating machines are located near the dam in Okutama and Koshu areas, Yamanashi prefecture, outside Tokyo.

Silver iodine is thought to be rain-producing 'seeds' mixed with acetone before they are blown into the sky. This mixture is expected to cool the clouds at an altitude of 4,000-5,000m and produce rain.

The Tokyo government will decide whether to fully operate the device after observing changes in water levels on the river.

As of August 21, the water level in the dams along the Tone River system was only 47% and the water levels in the Tama river systems dropped to 69%.

The Tokyo government has restricted pumping 10% of water in reservoirs along the Tone River from July 24