Dubai comes to a standstill as cloud seeding causes heavy rains, floods
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Torrential rains have caused flooding across the United Arab Emirates, leading to flight cancellations, school closures, and traffic jams. The heavy rainfall is partly due to cloud seeding.
Since 2002, the UAE has been conducting cloud seeding operations to address water security concerns, although the lack of proper drainage in many areas can exacerbate flooding.
The National Center of Meteorology in the Gulf state, a key player in managing weather conditions, dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to target convective cloud formations.
This technique involves introducing chemicals and tiny particles, often natural salts like potassium chloride, into the atmosphere to stimulate more rainfall from clouds.
“Operations continue to be significantly disrupted at Dubai International due to heavy rain and flooding,” a spokesperson for the airport told Bloomberg News. Over 40 flights were canceled and inbound services were temporarily diverted until weather conditions improved.
The UAE government issued warnings before the heavy rains, asking people to stay home and only leave “in cases of extreme necessity.” It later extended remote working until Wednesday for all federal employees.
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