An anonymous reader shared a report. Storms have battered the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week, dumping record rainfall, flooding highways, flooding homes, congesting transport networks and trapping people in their homes. […] In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a record 254 millimeters (10 inches) of rainfall was recorded in the city of Al Ain, which borders Oman. It was the heaviest rainfall in a 24-hour period since records began in 1949. Rainfall is rare in the United Arab Emirates and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula, which are known for their dry desert climates. Summer temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius. However, the UAE and Oman also lack drainage systems to cope with heavy rains, and roads often flood during periods of rain.
Tuesday's events raised questions about whether cloud seeding, which the UAE frequently practices, was causing the heavy rains. Cloud seeding is the process of injecting chemicals into clouds to increase rainfall in environments where water scarcity is a concern. The UAE, located in one of the hottest and driest regions on earth, has led efforts to create clouds and increase rainfall. However, the UAE Meteorological Department told Reuters that no such operation existed before the storm. Experts say the heavy rains are more likely the result of normal weather systems being exacerbated by climate change. Esraa al-Nakbi, a senior forecaster at the UAE government's National Meteorological Center, said low pressure in the upper atmosphere combined with low pressure at the surface to “squeeze” the air. This compression was further intensified by the contrast between warm temperatures on the ground and cold temperatures aloft, creating conditions for powerful thunderstorms, she said.