07 May, 2008

Now we can enjoy rains often

The Meteorological Department at the National Centre of Meteorology and seismology (NCMS) today carried out tests to induce artificial rains.

The NCMS used planes to sprinkle cloud seeding salts in the moist clouds heading towards Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain. The monitoring stations already registered light to medium rainfalls in different areas of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Centre is planning to repeat the tests tomorrow. WAM

17 comments:

Editor said...

only if we are brave enough to get out under the rain :)

Alexander said...

Mad isn't it? I couldn't work out why the sky was so dark on my way into work yesterday and then was amazed at the deliciously refreshing but thoroughly unseasonable downpour over Satwa.

And it was man made! We scare me sometimes...

Nature Strikes Back said...

I heard thunder at around 7.45 and was so delighted I spilled my coffee. I then got rained on as I was walking to the bus stop. It was so good I almost don't care that it wssn't real.

hemlock said...

there is something freakishly wrong about this.

hut said...

Fantastic! I hope they will have a timetable for rain.
8:30 to 8:47 Bur Dubai
8:50 to 9:30 Jumeirah and so on.

hemlock, it is 'real' rain, it just happens to be because of an artificially induced chemical reaction that speeds up precipitation.

hemlock said...

nick: if we can make the rain and the sunshine and create land in water and fuel from crops and animals and people in labs - what need will there be for a god?
(although yer probably the wrong person to ask that question :D)

hut said...

hemlock, ehr..ehm..

Anyway, it doesn't seem to work on Wednesdays.

Nature Strikes Back said...

Don't worry Hemlock.. there will always be a need for a God. We'll need someone not to blame when it all goes tits up!

Kyle said...

PN:

If you were to start a relief goods drop-off point in Dubai, do post the location and count me in. Thanks :)

A bunch of my buddies are already on to this through their local churches back on the East & West coasts. However, it'll be a while before the stuff reaches Burma.

Tim Noble said...

They tested that in the UK years ago and it caused huge floods back during World War 2! Lot's of people died and they hushed it up!

Anonymous said...

Thats scary noble!!!!
I wonder if they know that.

Tim Noble said...

Think scientists have studied it pretty comprehensively...they stopped the experiments because of the flash floods it caused. Orginally - like a lot of inventions - it started off as a weapon to flood the Germans in the war...only God should control the weather...

Anonymous said...

All I know is, I was driving from Al Ain to Dubai, and we noticed the dark sky in front of us. Somewhere around Marmum, around 8:25 or so, drops began falling, then the next thing I knew, a huge cloud of sand (or dust) began blowing across the road. It was like a blank wall, visbility was reduced to about 2 metres. I was in the middle lane, there was no way to pull off the road, because we simply couldn't see to even change to the next lane. So we slowed to a crawl and and continued straight, as it seemed the safest option (with driving lights on).

It slowly cleared, more large drops fell, and suddenly we were greeted by clear blue sky and clear air. It was a big relief.

The car of course was a mess; I spent 45 minutes this morning washing it. I'm sure car washes in the country did some good business as a result.

Cloud seeding is not new (as mentioned by previous posters) it's been tried before, but never progressed beyond that. Way back in 1974/75, the Government of Tamil Nadu (South India) tried it, seeding clouds with silver oxide.It was done with Russian help. The results were a little better than what we saw 2 days ago, but I guess the clouds they seeded were larger or something.

I think the point to remember is that, in order to seed clouds, you first need to have clouds. You don't normally see clouds around here in summer, except in Al Ain, where you have frequent summer showers in July/August, without the need for seeding!

Veiled Muslimah said...

Interesting. My brother told me in the morning that, that rain was artificial. My reaction was mixed, a bit of shock and awe, heh. I was initially thinking, 'global warming'.

most of the rain was dirty though, or so i heard. glad i didnt exactly go out in it.

Lirun said...

cloud seeding is controversial.. the question is always - who will be denied the water you receive.. i guess maybe iran? i dont know.. who lies in your wind path?

a lot of this technology is israeli developed.. dubai jazz - want to boycott the rain? :)

Anonymous said...

Climate of Dubai is really so difficult to understand when it changes no one knows

ColOman said...

with the shortage of water we are going and are facing this might be the only soultion.

Lets hope that water is not going harmful in any way!

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