Royal Rainmaking flights continue even as northern skies clear

Chiang Mai’s weather modification unit is keeping its aircraft in the air — even as the haze crisis that gripped the north for over a month finally begins to lift.

Thunderstorms and strong winds over the past three days have done much of the heavy lifting, but the Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation is pressing on regardless.

Today the Chiang Mai unit deployed four aircraft on five sorties, combining dry ice seeding to break up temperature inversions with cloud nurturing techniques designed to trigger rainfall, accelerate air circulation and reduce the remaining risk of forest fires.

Today’s operations targeted Phayao, Lampang and Chiang Rai provinces as well as multiple districts within Chiang Mai.

The push comes at the tail end of an intensive 25-day campaign. Between 1st and 25th April, the unit flew 276 sorties totalling 435 flight hours, covering seven provinces: Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Lamphun, Lampang, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Tak.

With pollution levels now significantly reduced, the department says current conditions — higher atmospheric humidity — actually present an ideal window to maximise the effectiveness of combined cloud seeding and dry ice techniques, ensuring the haze does not return and that clean air is fully restored to northern communities as quickly as possible.