The UAE is still getting over Tuesday’s historic storm and deluge of rain. However, was cloud seeding a factor? Here are the remarks made by officials:
Tuesday, April 16th, will go down in UAE history as the nation experienced the most amount of rainfall in a single day, leaving towns inundated and suffering from the repercussions. Two days later, the chaos is still present: many people are struggling with the loss of their houses and cars, businesses are still shuttered, schools are still closed, and flights are still canceled.
Like with every drop of rain in Dubai, doubts were raised over whether the rainfall was artificially created by cloud seeding techniques because it is extremely rare to have rain in the desert, especially in April.
Did cloud seeding do it?
The National was informed by the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) that during Tuesday’s record-breaking storm, there were no cloud seeding missions conducted.
In a statement, it stated, “The NCM didn’t conduct any seeding operations during this event.” One of the fundamental tenets of cloud seeding is that you must target clouds before it starts to rain. It is too late to carry out any seeding operations if there is a severe thunderstorm condition.
“We take great care to ensure the safety of our employees, pilots, and aircraft. During periods of harsh weather, NCM doesn’t perform cloud seeding activities.
Heaviest rainfall in 75 years
It’s the highest amount of rainfall ever recorded in a single day, according to NCM, surpassing everything recorded since data collection began in 1949. The period between Monday, April 15, and Tuesday, April 16, at 9 p.m., was when the record rainfall was recorded. Tuesday night at 9 p.m., further rain was reported.
According to NCM, 254 mm of rain poured in less than a day in the Khatm Al Sahkla neighborhood of Al Ain, which recorded the highest rainfall.
