- By Kamal Kumar
- Wed, 17 Apr 2024 04:31 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Dubai Rain News: Dubai, the desert city-state of the United Arab Emirates, was hit by unprecedented rainfall and resultant massive flooding on Wednesday, causing school and airport shutdowns across the capital. According to the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology, Dubai along with several parts of the Emirate received over 10 inches (25 cm) of rainfall in a single day, a quantity which it usually gets over a period of two years. Wednesday's rainfall is deemed the highest single-day rainfall in the last 75 years.
Heavy rainfall flooded key highways and caused flight disruptions at Dubai International Airport. Houses were submerged, and cars were left stranded along Dubai's roads while authorities dispatched tanker trucks and pumps to mitigate the impact of flooding.
Social media images showed popular shopping destinations like Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates submerged, while Dubai Metro Station found itself in ankle-high water. Lightning occasionally danced around the apex of Burj Khalifa – the towering emblem of the city skyline.
What caused the Dubai floods
Since the devastating floods hit the otherwise arid area, meteorologists are investigating the probable cause behind the floods. UAE's Met Department is attributing the unprecedented rainfall to an already developing storm system over the Arabian Peninsula. The intense clouds which developed due to this storm system are moving across the Gulf of Oman while traversing large parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
This weather pattern is also delivering uncommonly heavy rainfall to neighbouring Oman and southeastern Iran.
Dubai Flood: Climate Change the culprit?
Some climatologists are considering Climate Change as the potential cause behind the massive rainfall in regions which do not even have proper drainage systems, owing to bleak rainfall and associated problems.
“deadly and destructive rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused climate change,” Climatologist Friederike Otto said as quoted by news agency AFP.
Dubai Flood: Cloud Seeding might be the cause
Among other probable reasons, some meteorologists and climate specialists are of the opinion that this unprecedented rainfall could have been an outcome of the cloud-seeding efforts of the UAE.
"Dubai is no stranger to dust but the storm had engulfed a huge amount of dust right over the area. Dust is also a cloud seeder, we call it condensation nuclei, so how can one be certain the man-made seeding was responsible when a desert’s worth of dust was suspended overhead?” asked Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist (Tampa Bay, US), on social media site X.
(Rainfall map capturing the movement of clouds over Gulf states. Credit- UAE Met Dept)
According to News18, the Meteorology department of the Gulf state dispatched cloud-seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to reap the most out of convective cloud formations. Cloud Seeding involves spraying chemicals and tiny particles — often natural salts such as potassium chloride — into the atmosphere to help moisture settle down on these tiny nuclei. Thus it can help in intensifying the rainfall.
The UAE started cloud seeding operations in the 2000s to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can trigger flooding.