LHASA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China has succeeded in creating another
man-made snowfall in Tibet Autonomous Region to ease drought, local
authorities said on Tuesday.

     Technicians took advantage of suitable weather conditions to carry
out the artificial snowfall in the regional capital of Lhasa from 2:02
p.m. to 4:05 p.m. Saturday, said Gaisang Puncog, head of the Tibet
Regional Weather Modification Center.

     The precipitation was measured at 0.2 mm in downtown Lhasa and the
accumulated snow on the nearby mountains reached 2 cm after the
artificial snowfall, he said.

     "It played an active role in increasing soil moisture, making the
air cleaner and reducing the occurrences of respiratory diseases," he
said. "The snowfall and following temperature drop are good for the
growth of winter crops."

     Technicians with the weather modification authorities fired six
rocket shells containing 10 cigarette-sized sticks of silver iodide
totaling 1,395 grams over the city's skies in the artificial snowfall
operation, he added.

     This operation came after another man-made snowfall launched in
Ngari Prefecture in western Tibet on Jan. 9.

     Lhasa and neighboring areas have reported a lack of snowfall this
winter with higher temperatures than normal years.

     In April last year, China succeeded in creating artificial snow for
the first time in Nagqu County at an altitude of about 4,500 meters in
northern Tibet.

Editor: An Lu