A better understanding of the bacteria’s role could lead to its eventual inclusion in more accurate climatic models. The bacteria outperforms artificial cloud-seeding chemicals, suggesting its possible use as a rain-maker. So far, though, it’s of most use to skiers and snowboarders. Since the late 1980s, a company called Snowmax has supplied resorts with a P. syringae-derived additive that allows snowmaking machines to powder the slopes at temperatures much higher than would otherwise be possible.

Source: How scientists are harnessing the ice-making powers of bacteria