The National Center of Meteorology (NCM), which is responsible for the cloud seeding missions in the United Arab Emirates, stated that they did not use the method prior to the heavy storms in the country.
NCM’s deputy director general Omar AlYazeedi told CNBC that they “did not conduct any seeding operations during this event.”
“We take the safety of our people, pilots, and aircrafts very seriously,” AlYazeedi said. “The NCM does not conduct cloud seeding operations during extreme weather events.”
“One of the basic principles of cloud seeding is that you have to target clouds in its early stage before it rains,” he said. “If you have a severe thunderstorm situation then it is too late to conduct any seeding operation,” he added.
The organization’s statement followed an earlier Bloomberg report, in which meteorologist Ahmed Habib said that the rains from Tuesday were partly caused by cloud seeding.
Habib later informed CNBC that six pilots had completed flights as part of standard protocol, but they did not engage in cloud seeding during these missions. CNBC was not able to independently verify the reports.
Cloud seeding is a weather modification method used to produce rainfalls. The UAE uses the method as a part of its mission to solve water shortages.
On Tuesday, the UAE experienced heavy rains, which caused flooding in several places like Dubai. The NCM reported tracking the incoming rainstorms. However, it said it refrained from targeting the clouds during that period, indicating that the storm was a result of natural rainfall.
