Scientists at Beijing's Weather Modification Office induced the season's first snow in the Chinese capital on Sunday, the earliest storm on record.

"We wont miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought," BWMO chief Zhang Qiang told Chinese state media.

The Chinese have been inducing precipitation for several years for a variety of reasons. Artificial weather has been used to end droughts, to undo crop-destroying hailstorms and to fight fires. Using artillery guns, rainmakers launch rockets containing silver iodide into pregnant clouds. Moisture gathers around the dispersed chemical until it is heavy enough to fall.

The technology made headlines before and during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Officials first induced rain to help scrub the city clean of its omnipresent smog. They then worked to prevent rain from falling during events by heading off on-coming storm clouds in the surrounding countryside.