UAE government unit denies cloud seeding took place before Dubai floods

The National Center of Meteorology (NCM), a government taskforce liable for cloud seeding missions within the United Arab Emirates, denied studies that it carried out the climate modification approach within the runup to heavy storms throughout the nation, subsequently exacerbating flooding in locations like Dubai.

The group informed CNBC that it didn’t dispatch pilots for seeding operations before or in the course of the storm that struck the UAE on Tuesday.

Omar AlYazeedi, deputy director common of the NCM, stated that the establishment “did not conduct any seeding operations during this event.”

He added, “One of the basic principles of cloud seeding is that you have to target clouds in its early stage before it rains, if you have a severe thunderstorm situation then it is too late to conduct any seeding operation.”

On Tuesday, the nation skilled its heaviest downpour thus far, with over 250 millimeters of rainfall within the Emirate of Al Ain, in keeping with NCM figures, and recording greater than 100 mm in locations like Dubai. The annual rainfall within the UAE averages between 140 to 200 mm.

The NCM denial follows an earlier Bloomberg report, by which Ahmed Habib, a specialist meteorologist, had said that the Tuesday rains had stemmed partly from cloud seeding. Habib later informed CNBC that six pilots had flown missions as a part of common protocol, however had not seeded any clouds. CNBC was not capable of independently confirm the studies.

Cloud seeding, a course of used to reinforce rainfall, has been an integral a part of the UAE’s mission to unravel water shortages. Seeding missions have been launched within the 1990s, and over 1,000 hours of cloud seeding at the moment are carried out yearly.

The NCM stated it had tracked the incoming heavy rainfall however didn’t goal any clouds throughout that interval, attributing the storm to pure rainfall. 

The deputy director common added: “We take the safety of our people, pilots, and aircrafts very seriously. The NCM does not conduct cloud seeding operations during extreme weather events.”

The Gulf state has skilled an increase in rainfall in the previous few years, and precipitation is predicted to extend by 15-30% within the coming years, in keeping with a report from the science journal Nature.

Traditionally characterised by its desert local weather and scarce rainfall, the UAE has skilled shifts in climate patterns time beyond regulation as a consequence of local weather change.

The UAE government’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority issued warnings on social media platform X forward of the unstable climate situations and urged residents to remain house and cling to security pointers.

The UAE’s infrastructure and buildings are designed to endure climate patterns typical to the area, reminiscent of minimal rainfall. The Emirates drainage programs struggled to manage in the course of the unprecedented downpours, leading to flooded roads and airports and halting the nation’s essential operations.