Don’t blame Dubai’s freak rain on cloud seeding – the storm was far too big to be human-made

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Thousands of meters below, a smaller plane would be threading through the storm downdrafts measuring the rain.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
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https://theconversation.com/dont-blame-dubais-freak-rain-on-cloud-seeding-the-storm-was-far-too-big-to-be-human-made-228272https://theconversation.com/dont-blame-dubais-freak-rain-on-cloud-seeding-the-storm-was-far-too-big-to-be-human-made-228272
Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 19, 2024
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Tags: 
Cloud, Atmosphere, Taste, Growth, Humidity, University, Climate, Nature, Human, Carbon, Dry ice, Congo, Radar, Aircraft, Ant, Weather, Silviculture
Geotags: 
UAE, BAHRAIN, FRANCE
Summary
Key Points: 
  • Thousands of meters below, a smaller plane would be threading through the storm downdrafts measuring the rain.
  • The project I was part of, neatly named Rain (Rain Augmentation in Nelspruit), was a cloud seeding experiment several years in the making.
  • Cloud seeding involves adding tiny particles into a cloud in order to give moisture something to attach to and form droplets.
  • There is no identical cloud with which to compare the outcome of having seeded a particular cloud.

A perfect storm

  • Parts of the Arabian Peninsula received 18 months of rainfall in 24 hours that Tuesday.
  • Being the weather-man in the chat group, I looked at the satellite and the forecast model data.
  • What I saw were the ingredients of a perfect storm.
  • Under these conditions, thunderstorms develop very readily and in this case a special kind of storm, a mesoscale convective system, built and sustained itself for many hours.

Cloud seeding not to blame

  • What surprised me, though, was not the majesty of nature, but an emerging set of reports blaming the ensuing rains on cloud seeding.
  • It turns out the UAE has been running a cloud seeding project, UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, for several years.
  • The idea, similar to the Rain project I once worked on, is to promote the growth of cloud droplets and thereby rainfall.


Richard Washington receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council to study climate processes.

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