When Switzerland Launched Rockets To Fight Hail

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland pioneered the artificial modification of clouds, known as cloud seeding, which many countries now practise. However, recent experiments to reduce hail damage have not produced the desired results. This content was published on August 31, 2026 - 09:00 8 minutes

I cover climate change and energy through reportages, articles, interviews and in-depth reports. I am interested in the impacts of global warming on everyday life and solutions for an emission-free planet. Passionate about travel and discovery, I studied biology and other natural sciences. I have been a journalist for SWI swissinfo for more than 20 years.

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Around ten cannons, shaped like large metal cones, are trained on a dark mass gathering on the horizon. It is the autumn of 1900 and, in the Ticino village of Collina d'Oro in southern Switzerland, a group of scientists is attempting to control the forces of nature.

The cannons generate shock waves that travel towards the storm clouds. The aim is to prevent the clouds, as they advance towards the village, from unleashing large hailstones.

Since then, the stakes have grown. Climate change is warming the atmosphere and fueling stronger storm updrafts that produce larger hailstones. In Switzerland and elsewhere, scientists and insurance companies are still searching for a way to blunt the damage – despite a century of cloud-seeding experiments that have yet to prove this method works.

The destructive potential of hail has long been recognised, explains Marco Gaia of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss). At the end of the 19th century, anti-hail systems were widespread across much of Switzerland. In the summer of 1901 alone, hail cannons were fired around 6,000 times.

Today, summer hail regularly causes millions of francs in damage in Switzerland.

Switzerland is among the pioneers in combating hail through cloud seeding. This technique involves releasing particles into clouds using rockets launched from the ground or from aircraft. The projectiles release substances – usually silver iodide – to encourage the formation of many smaller hailstones, which are less destructive than fewer larger ones.

The tests carried out in Switzerland, including large-scale experiments between the 1950s and 1980s, have helped to advance scientific knowledge in this field. But the data remains incomplete.

“They have never been able to conclusively demonstrate the effectiveness of the various methods tested,” Gaia tells Swissinfo.

>> Dozens of countries use cloud seeding to induce artificial rain, with limited results:

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