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Vincent J. Schaefer, a self-taught chemist who invented cloud "seeding" and created the first artificially induced snow and rainfall, died on Sunday at a hospital in Schenectady, N.Y. He was 87 and lived in Rotterdam, N.Y.
Mr. Schaefer drew worldwide attention with his 1946 experiments for General Electric making the first snowstorm in a laboratory and inducing precipitation outdoors, solving many of the mysteries of rain and snow that had baffled scientists.
He was hailed as the first person to actually do something about the weather and not just talk about it. Hopes grew that cloud seeding could fight drought, control storms, reduce hail, quench forest fires and even guarantee a white Christmas.
But concerns arose about disrupting weather patterns and "stealing" rain. There were also practical difficulties in controlling the weather. The Saturday Evening Post noted that after seeding, it was still "difficult to aim a cloud."
Although the grander hopes were unrealized, cloud seeding is still done in some countries, and the techniques are also used to clear clouds over some airports.
Mr. Schaefer went on to become the founder and director of the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the State University of New York at Albany. He retired in the 1970's. Inauspicious Beginning
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