1,000 rain dispersal rockets keep Beijing dry

New Delhi, Aug 9: Beijing fired over 1,000 rain dispersal rockets to blow away rain clouds for the smooth opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games at the National Stadium, confirmed the local observatory on Saturday, Aug 9 morning.

It was the largest rain dispersal operation in China, and the first time that such technology has been used to ensure the weather condition for Olympic opening, said Chinese meteorologists. "We fired a total of 1,104 rain dispersal rockets from 21 sites in the city between 4:00 p.m. and 11:39 p.m. on Friday, which successfully intercepted a stretch of rain belt from moving towards the stadium," said Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Municipal Meteorological Bureau (BMB). The observatory had given rainy weather forecast for the Olympic night, and monitored 90 percent of humidity rate, Xinhua reported.

"Under such a weather condition, a small bubble in the rain cloud would have triggered rainfall, let alone a lightening," said Guo, whose team had monitored the movement of the rain cloud heading for Beijing from 7:20 a.m. on Friday.

Rain had been cited as the biggest threat to the Olympic opening by chief director of the ceremony Zhang Yimou days ahead of the Olympic night.

ANI