The UAE was lashed by some extreme weather this weekend
Summer? What summer?
Last week saw heavy rain in some parts of the UAE, and this weekend the unseasonal weather continued over the country, with more rainfall, strong winds and thunderstorms.
One man was killed in Al Ain on Friday evening after he was struck by a lightning bolt while working on a rooftop, Gulf News reported.
Videos shared to social media by local weather website storm.ae reveal the intensity of the storm.
The National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology shared this video of the severe weather, in the area between Nahil and Al Shuwaib:
— UAE WEATHER (@NCMS_media) July 7, 2017
Meanwhile, Fujairah experienced dark, cloudy skies and showers.
Why are we seeing rain in the UAE in July, typically one of the driest months of the year? According to the Khaleej Times, it’s partly because of cloud seeding, a process that sees pilots injecting clouds with magnesium, sodium chloride and potassium chloride so they produce rain.
The process doesn’t create the clouds, however – they need to exist in the first place. The areas in the UAE with the greatest chance of clouds (and therefore cloud seeding success) are located close to the mountains and the Oman Sea.