This past Sunday on Nov. 1, Beijing saw its earliest snowfall in 22 years. The sudden change in weather, which blanketed the entire city in snow, surprised many residents. But the news media later reported that the snowfall had actually been enhanced by the city’s weather modification office.

The reasoning behind the forced precipitation was because Beijing had been experiencing a drought. The night before the snow, the government had fired silver iodide into the skies. The resulting effect increased the amount of snow by 16 million tons.

“We won’t miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought,” said Zhang Qiang, the head of the weather modification office, to the state media.

China has a history of artificially inducing rain, usually in cases to stop drought. At other times, the weather modification office has reduced the rain to ensure clear skies, such as during the National Day parade in October or the Beijing Olympic Games.

Netizens have been divided in their opinions about this past weekend’s man-made snow. Some wrote gleefully about its beauty, like blogger, 鱼干儿.

北京的天气，总是这么让人匪夷所思。毫无预兆的就下了场雪，而且还一发不可收拾。听说是人工催下来的，管他呢，我们就爱这样的天气。

Some, however, have been more annoyed. Wrote 小米：

回来才听说这是场人工降雪，是谁这么主观的断定这是下雪的好时机呢？？到处都是措手不及的冷，电力、交通、供暖等都遇到很棘手的问题。

On an Internet forum, one user complained that the government should have warned people ahead of time, adding that many of the flights at the airport were delayed.

要我说，这种人定胜天的精神是好的，虽然北 京人都“被冬天”了，如果真能解除北方旱情也算是功德一桩。就是没通知大家的气象局太不地道。

A few posts made on the Internet have also expressed worry over what kind of effects the unnatural snow might have on the environment. One blogger, 天边的云, wondered if anyone has the right to alter the weather.

但是，在我们还不能完全掌握天气变化的规律时，就盲目改变局部的天气，是否会对 整个环境造成更大的不利影响呢？比如，这次因为北京缺水，就让原本要下到山东（假设而已）的雪在北京下了，会不会造成山东更缺水呢？

Alex Pasternack, a blogger and journalist in Beijing, wrote a post on Tree Hugger elaborating on what kind of effects the man-made precipitation might have.

The drought has affected 800,000 hectares of farmland by the end of October, official sources estimated, and the snow storm was said to be a much-needed boon to local farmers.

But not all farmers in the region benefited. One possible side effect of weather modification is that it diverts precipitation from other regions that need it too, for the sake of creating stronger storms in a focused area.

Other netizens have poked fun at the snow. Elizabeth Kain wrote on her blog:

Yesterday's snow was the earliest in ten years. I am sure my mother, who sat in the Beijing Airport for 7 hours as all flights in and out of the city were disrupted or cancelled, would be happy to know her inconvenience was state induced.

Another comment about the snow also made an astute observation:

Martin M. November 2, 2009 3:30 pm

Everything is made in China, even snow.