# Nineteen Flares Over the Kenai, and One Number > Two drones released 374.3 grams of silver iodide over the Kenai Peninsula on August 23rd, about the mass of a can of soup. Published 2026-08-27 by Alaska AI. 9 slides. Canonical: https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-08-27/ ## The story Nineteen flares burned over the Kenai. Alaska got one number. Two drones. Seven missions. Nineteen flares. Rainmaker says drones EL-151 and EL-153 released 19 silver iodide flares over the Kenai on August 23rd, between 06:38, 18 and 09:33, 41 UTC. Missions 4 through 7 were flown by EL-151 alone. 374.3 grams of silver iodide, over a modelled 249.53 square kilometres. Each flare dispersed about 19.7 grams over a nominal 3.5 minute burn. The company puts the wet area at 249.53 square kilometres, about 0.6 percent of the borough's land. Silver iodide only works between minus 5 and minus 15. Every median release temperature landed inside that window. Soundings launched from the site put the average freezing level at 1,874 metres, and that sounding is the night's one direct measurement. A low in the Gulf. Northeasterly flow. Nobody watching. The radar looks from 1,800 metres up. The company says its range does not cover what happens to precipitation between the lowest radar beam and the ground. Every retelling was narrower than the one before. The report says estimates. A gap in the record is not a finding. Six things were checked. Three came back. Two documents. Read the one with the band in it. ## What we verified - Rainmaker Technology Corporation says it conducted drone based glaciogenic cloud seeding in the Kenai Peninsula on August 23rd, 2026. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports it executed seven coordinated seeding missions over a three hour period. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports that 19 red silver iodide flares were released during the operation. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker names two drones in the operation, identified as EL-151 and EL-153. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports the flares dispersed approximately 374.3 grams of silver iodide in total. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports the flare releases occurred between 06:38, 18 and 09:33, 41 UTC. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports all median release temperatures fell within the approximate minus 5 to minus 15 degrees Celsius silver iodide activation window. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports soundings launched from the seeding site placed the average freezing level near 1,874 metres above mean sea level. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker reports the wet area attributed to seeding covered 249.53 square kilometres, defined as accumulated seeded precipitation exceeding 0.01 millimetres. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker states the WSR-88D radar at PAHG provides the principal observational basis for the analysis. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker estimated the natural background by subtracting 5 dBZ from all radar gates before converting reflectivity to precipitation. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker converted radar reflectivity to precipitation using 27 separate relationships of the form Z equals a times S to the power b. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker uses the verb estimates for the net new precipitation figure. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker's own report gives a 5th to 95th percentile range of 41.70 to 89.35 acre feet around a mean of 57.62 acre feet. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker states its uncertainty range does not account for what happens to precipitation between the lowest radar beam and the ground. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker's summary post states the operation generated approximately 19 million gallons of water in a three hour period. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/rainmaker-alaska-results), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker's summary post gives the figure as a mean of 57 acre feet with an interquartile range of 45 to 65 acre feet. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/rainmaker-alaska-results), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker's summary post says the company made 10 seeding flights on August 23rd between 6:30am and 9:23am UTC. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/rainmaker-alaska-results), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker says it has operated in the Kenai Peninsula since June 2026. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/rainmaker-alaska-results), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker says it chose the region for a high incidence of summertime seeding conditions along the Chugach and Kenai coastal ranges. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/rainmaker-alaska-results), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker says it followed methodology established by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the 2017 SNOWIE campaign. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/rainmaker-alaska-results), primary document, 2026-08-24. - Rainmaker describes Stratus as a proprietary forecasting and nowcasting platform that ingests realtime weather data to identify optimal seeding windows. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/technology), primary document, 2026-08-27. - Rainmaker's technology page advertises 20 plus data integrations and 5 day advanced awareness of seeding conditions. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/technology), primary document, 2026-08-27. - Rainmaker's technology page claims 8,000 plus telemetry data variables in its validation stack. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/technology), primary document, 2026-08-27. - Atmo and Rainmaker announced a strategic alliance for AI powered precision cloud seeding on July 14th, 2025. [Atmo](https://www.atmo.ai/news/rainmaker-and-atmo-announce-strategic-alliance-to-transform-weather-modification-with-ai-powered-precision-cloud-seeding-8ps72), primary document, 2025-07-14. - Atmo claims its ensemble deep learning models predict weather up to 40,000 times faster and up to 100 times more precisely than conventional weather models. [Atmo](https://www.atmo.ai/news/rainmaker-and-atmo-announce-strategic-alliance-to-transform-weather-modification-with-ai-powered-precision-cloud-seeding-8ps72), primary document, 2025-07-14. - The Rainmaker and Atmo announcement puts drone seeding operating cost at approximately 50 dollars per flight hour including materials. [Atmo](https://www.atmo.ai/news/rainmaker-and-atmo-announce-strategic-alliance-to-transform-weather-modification-with-ai-powered-precision-cloud-seeding-8ps72), primary document, 2025-07-14. - Rainmaker chief executive Augustus Doricko said the company can combine AI meteorology with radar validated cloud seeding to deliver measurable precipitation enhancement. [Atmo](https://www.atmo.ai/news/rainmaker-and-atmo-announce-strategic-alliance-to-transform-weather-modification-with-ai-powered-precision-cloud-seeding-8ps72), primary document, 2025-07-14. - Rainmaker Technology Corporation is based in El Segundo, California. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/about), primary document, 2026-08-27. - The Federal Register published a summary of Rainmaker Technology Corporation's petition for exemption from 14 CFR 107.36 on July 29th, 2025 under docket FAA-2025-1630. [Federal Aviation Administration via the Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/29/2025-14285/petition-for-exemption-summary-of-petition-received-rainmaker-technology-corporation), primary document, 2025-07-29. - Rainmaker's FAA petition seeks authorization to use burn in place and ejectable flares on its Elijah quadcopter drones for precipitation enhancement. [Federal Aviation Administration via the Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2025/07/29/2025-14285.txt), primary document, 2025-07-29. - As of August 27th, 2026 the Federal Register contains no grant or denial of Rainmaker's exemption petition, only the July 2025 notice of the petition. [Federal Register API](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/29/2025-14285/petition-for-exemption-summary-of-petition-received-rainmaker-technology-corporation), primary document, 2026-08-27. - NOAA requires anyone conducting weather modification in the United States to report it at least 10 days before undertaking the activity. [NOAA Central Library](https://library.noaa.gov/weather-climate/weather-modification-project-reports), primary document, 2026-02-27. - NOAA's public list of weather modification project reports could not be read to confirm or refute a Rainmaker filing for the Alaska operation. [NOAA Central Library](https://library.noaa.gov/weather-climate/weather-modification-project-reports), primary document, 2026-02-27. - The Kenai Peninsula Borough has a land area of 16,017.53 square miles. [US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files](https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2023_Gazetteer/2023_gaz_counties_02.txt), primary document, 2023-01-01. - Rainmaker's flare releases ran from 06:38 to 09:33 UTC on August 23rd, which is the evening of August 22nd in Alaska Daylight Time. [Rainmaker Technology Corporation](https://www.rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-validation-report), primary document, 2026-08-24. - No chapter of Alaska Statutes Title 46, which covers water, air, energy and environmental conservation, addresses weather modification or cloud seeding. [FindLaw Alaska Statutes](https://codes.findlaw.com/ak/title-46-water-air-energy-and-environmental-conservation/), report, 2026-08-27. - A search of named Alaska outlets on August 27th, 2026 found only the Alaska Watchman had covered the Rainmaker Kenai Peninsula operation. [Alaska Watchman](https://alaskawatchman.com/2026/08/25/chemically-seeded-clouds-over-alaska-results-in-19-million-gallon-rainfall-in-3-hours/), report, 2026-08-25. - The Alaska Watchman headlined a single 19 million gallon figure while its own body reported the company's range. [Alaska Watchman](https://alaskawatchman.com/2026/08/25/chemically-seeded-clouds-over-alaska-results-in-19-million-gallon-rainfall-in-3-hours/), report, 2026-08-25. - The Alaska Watchman reported that the Air Line Pilots Association warned Rainmaker's technology poses an extreme safety risk. [Alaska Watchman](https://alaskawatchman.com/2026/08/25/chemically-seeded-clouds-over-alaska-results-in-19-million-gallon-rainfall-in-3-hours/), report, 2026-08-25. Slides and the deck PDF are linked from the canonical page.