UAE weather: Did cloud seeding cause highest rainfall in 18 months reported this week?

Major entertainment venues, including the Global Village and the Campus Germany pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 were closed for the day as the UAE received record-breaking rainfall. The Dubai Shopping Festival fireworks were also cancelled due to inclement weather conditions.

The spate of rainy weather will continue until Thursday as the country recorded its highest rainfall in the past year-and-a-half, weather forecasters have said.

The UAE records an average of 100 mm of precipitation every year. However, since Thursday, December 30 2021, the Saih Al Salam region in Dubai, which includes Al Qudra Lakes and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, has recorded 141.8 mm of rain, a National Centre of Meteorology official said.

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Regions in Al Ain witnessed 68 to 70 mm of rain and Ras Al Khaimah saw 64.4 mm of rain since the stormy weather situation began three days ago.

A National Center of Meteorology (NCM) official told Khaleej Times the rough weather conditions would continue until Wednesday. “Heavy rain would be accompanied by lightning, thunder, and even hail in some regions on Monday and Tuesday,” he explained.

“If we compare the rains this year to previous the conditions in 2021, we didn’t have such instability last year. This year, the rains are good,” said the official.

“However, the intensity of the current instability will gradually decrease by Wednesday,” the official added.

The official also confirmed that officials used cloud seeding technology to increase the intensity and amount of rains the country is witnessing at the moment. “The aim of cloudseeding was to increase the amount and intensity of rain and not to create rainy clouds,” he stated.

In a statement to WAM, NCM said there will be fewer clouds on Wednesday and Thursday. The weather will be partly cloudy to cloudy at times, with a chance of light to moderate rain over some coastal and northern areas, with a significant drop in temperatures.

“The wind will be moderate to fresh and strong at times, especially with convective clouds and the sea will be rough or very rough at times in the Arabian Gulf and moderate to rough at times in the Oman Sea, especially with convective clouds,” the WAM report read.

Despite the rough weather conditions and frequent traffic snarls, residents and citizens took to social media to share pictures and videos of what most identify as the ‘most beautiful time in the UAE’. Mariam Jomehei shared videos of rains from her neighbourhood in Dubai, and said, “Amazing rains in Dubai.”

Ashwin Fernandes wrote, “Rains in Dubai during the weekend is a sign to stay at home and stop the spread (of Covid-19). Have some hot soup and dip in a piece of bread.”

- dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai