Yes, it rains in Dubai. Dubai is the country that promises all-year-round good weather. With the exception of the ridiculous temperatures in summer 40C+ you really do have great weather to maximise your opportunities of relaxing on the beach. You can imagine my surprise when I saw 3 days of torrential downpour last week!
Now, don’t get me wrong, although it’s rare. I have seen rain in Dubai. I’ve even seen some AMAZING thunderstorms in Dubai but three days? I haven’t seen anything like it in 4 years. But why? Well, Dubai prides itself on being an extremely innovative nation. It creates rain! Cloud seeding is the term used for what Dubai does. They artificially induce the rain by spraying chemicals into the air to create the rain. It’s truly quite fascinating when you start investigating it. It was absolutely one of the things previously considered a conspiracy by many.
Although it’s fascinating to watch, there are some cons of rain seeding here in Dubai. Firstly, the roads. They’re not used to it nor are they built for it. It isn’t uncommon for schools to close much to the delight of many teachers in Dubai. Nowadays, these school closures would switch us to online learning for the day. But previously, rain days were like snow days in the UK… school’s cancelled and it’s time to watch Netflix reduce clogging up the roads… you know, amazing Dubai resident and all that! Then there’s the dirt. Rain in Dubai is different to the UK. It carries sand. The unrelenting torrent doesn’t care if you’ve just cleaned your balcony, windows or car, you WILL have to wash it the next day. Rain in other areas due to cloud seeding is quite remarkable though. Take Oman, -the UAE’s neighbour. When it rained torrentially for a couple of days it created a whole new natural beauty within the country, a phenomenal waterfall as you can see. Rain… who would have thought it would be so fascinating.
I’ll tell you what will be fascinating… this blog about teaching in Dubai.
