More rains to hit UAE: 22 cloud-seeding missions carried out since June

Twenty-two cloud-seeding missions have been conducted in the UAE since June, boosting the rains that recently fell on the country, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has told Khaleej Times.

More rains are expected in the country this weekend — particularly between Fujairah and Sharjah, and Al Ain and Dubai, a top NCM official said.

“We conduct cloud-seeding operations every year whenever there are convective clouds. This increases the amount of rainfall. But it’s important to note that these operations increase the amount of rainfall, it doesn’t create rain,” said Dr Ahmed Habib from the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM).

"From June to August 9, we have conducted 22 cloud-seeding operations."

What is cloud-seeding and how is it done in the UAE?

Cloud-seeding is a method of boosting a cloud's capacity to produce rain.

Key to this process is spotting convective clouds — which are perfect for the mission because of their rain-bearing capacity. A special aircraft would shoot salt flares into these clouds to enhance rainfall.

Rain enhancement missions began in the UAE in the late 1990s, and since then, there has been an increase in cloud-seeding operations every year.

Will there be more rain in the coming days?

Until Saturday, there are chances of convective cloud formation associated with rainfall, Habib said. Showers could be of different intensities, accompanies by lightning and thunder at times in some parts of the country — especially in the east, south, and extending towards some internal areas and Al Dhafrah region.

"Actually, in this season, we are affected by the Indian monsoon. So, there is an extension of this effect in our areas as well. This is sometimes strong and at other times weak — but last week, this effect was strong," the NCM official said.

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