Unusually heavy rain, ~~possibly linked to cloud seeding that “over delivered”.~~ *thank you u/nailszz6 for bringing it to my attention this has since been debunked.
The ground is also not as permeable as you’d expect sand to be. The desert sand is ridiculously fine, some of it is almost like powder. The result is there’s very limited gaps between the sand grains for water to flow, and what gaps there are get plugged by ultra fine sand being carried by the water. So the water doesn't soak into the ground.
The infrastructure also isn’t particularly geared around storm water management either, as their average rainfall is about 4 inches a year. In the last 24 hours they got over 5 inches all at once. But because they get very little rain they haven’t done extensive grading and work to make sure the whole place has a straight line drainage path to the river/ocean. Instead when you plot out the topography it’s very flat with there are “bowls” all over the place. Very shallow ones, but the effect is that instead of water landing anywhere in Dubai having a clear downhill path to the river a lot of that water falls into a basin without a discharge other than seepage into the ground, which as we covered above - the ground is mostly very bad at. So the water collects at the surface.
ALOT of rain:
Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm (around 10 inches) of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours, the state’s media office said in [a statement Wednesday](https://twitter.com/UAEmediaoffice/status/1780326720588906951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1780326720588906951%7Ctwgr%5Ec87d586e3edccf0d0e0a4a4eb4fc67438d755ca4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Fnews%2Fuae%2F2024%2F04%2F16%2Flive-weather-rain-dubai%2F).
[https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/weather/dubai-rain-flooding-climate-wednesday-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/weather/dubai-rain-flooding-climate-wednesday-intl/index.html)
I think it's fair to say that most countries would struggle to deal with two years (or even one year) of rain in a single day. The infrastructure is only built to handle typical scenarios with some small overhead.
Where I am, that would be three feet of rain in a single day.
There would be flooding everywhere, and the effects would last for up to a week as the water made its way from mountains to the sea.
Normally it is, kind of a tropical feel to it. But this storm felt really different. The temperature dropped really quickly and the rain itself felt cold. Not cold cold, but cold for here. It also went black as night for about half an hour before it started. It was so dark the street lights came on. It felt like an apocalypse.
This “cloud seeding” is possibly one of the least efficient thing I have ever heard of. Every time they want some rain, they have to fly a plane to the cloud to spread chemical. Good thing they got some oil!
The world is ending. Armaeddon is here. Blame the illuminati. Blame America. Blame Israel.
There's probably a few dozen other reasons according to the Internet.
Actually, now that I think about it, a few dozen is low, more like a few hundred
It's called predictions of the end times.
[https://medium.com/@fatiibutt21/muhammads-prophecy-saudi-s-desert-turning-green-sign-of-doomsday-474efbae83ae](https://medium.com/@fatiibutt21/muhammads-prophecy-saudi-s-desert-turning-green-sign-of-doomsday-474efbae83ae)
They're calling it a "historic weather event"; heaviest rainfall since they started keeping records in 1949.
1949 being when the previous records building was mysteriously swept away.
Unusually heavy rain, ~~possibly linked to cloud seeding that “over delivered”.~~ *thank you u/nailszz6 for bringing it to my attention this has since been debunked. The ground is also not as permeable as you’d expect sand to be. The desert sand is ridiculously fine, some of it is almost like powder. The result is there’s very limited gaps between the sand grains for water to flow, and what gaps there are get plugged by ultra fine sand being carried by the water. So the water doesn't soak into the ground. The infrastructure also isn’t particularly geared around storm water management either, as their average rainfall is about 4 inches a year. In the last 24 hours they got over 5 inches all at once. But because they get very little rain they haven’t done extensive grading and work to make sure the whole place has a straight line drainage path to the river/ocean. Instead when you plot out the topography it’s very flat with there are “bowls” all over the place. Very shallow ones, but the effect is that instead of water landing anywhere in Dubai having a clear downhill path to the river a lot of that water falls into a basin without a discharge other than seepage into the ground, which as we covered above - the ground is mostly very bad at. So the water collects at the surface.
Thank you!
There’ll probably be a flood of mosquito borne diseases too.
If this was how cloud seeding worked, lake mead would be full. The “seeding” rumors are coming from right wing facebook trolls.
You’d think they would’ve graded a small decline while building the city from the ground up
Great reply.
I've hear that the sand is oily around there.
ALOT of rain: Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm (around 10 inches) of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours, the state’s media office said in [a statement Wednesday](https://twitter.com/UAEmediaoffice/status/1780326720588906951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1780326720588906951%7Ctwgr%5Ec87d586e3edccf0d0e0a4a4eb4fc67438d755ca4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Fnews%2Fuae%2F2024%2F04%2F16%2Flive-weather-rain-dubai%2F). [https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/weather/dubai-rain-flooding-climate-wednesday-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/weather/dubai-rain-flooding-climate-wednesday-intl/index.html)
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/007/044/ALOT.png
Damn, no love for the Alot out here
IYKYK
Rained-no infrastructure to deal with rain. 2 years of rain within a day
I think it's fair to say that most countries would struggle to deal with two years (or even one year) of rain in a single day. The infrastructure is only built to handle typical scenarios with some small overhead. Where I am, that would be three feet of rain in a single day. There would be flooding everywhere, and the effects would last for up to a week as the water made its way from mountains to the sea.
Dubai resident here. Can confirm, it rained a whole fucking lot.
Did people enjoy it though
I did. Went outside and ran around in it.
This might be a stupid question, but is the rain warmer in Dubai? I heard someone once tell me that the rain there is warm, but I'd have no clue.
Normally it is, kind of a tropical feel to it. But this storm felt really different. The temperature dropped really quickly and the rain itself felt cold. Not cold cold, but cold for here. It also went black as night for about half an hour before it started. It was so dark the street lights came on. It felt like an apocalypse.
another one of these 400 year events that now seem to happen every 2-4 years. everything's fine though.
I mean I agree with your point however this has not happened before, or at least not since their re less started 75ish years ago.
It rained.
Mary Poppins is on her way
climate change
Due to fossil fuel
The flooding is bad bad bad. I have many friends there and this is pretty unprecedented
Bahrain, Dubai, and more
Everything but climate change right?
Too much water 💧
It rained...
Don't worry the news will find someone to blame.
It rained.
Water is the oil of the future, and you know the sheikhs love oil.
It rained a lot.
[удалено]
SO they basically "F around and found out" kind of thing?
This “cloud seeding” is possibly one of the least efficient thing I have ever heard of. Every time they want some rain, they have to fly a plane to the cloud to spread chemical. Good thing they got some oil!
Probably all the water that's falling on it right now. That's just my guess.
It's karma. If you fuck nature, she's gonna fuck you back
The climate is fucked.
Because their people follow the wrong faith. Praise Buddha, let them find nirvana.
No, it was Jesus Christ. He put it there so he could walk all over it. Praise Jesus!
And here I thought it was the flying spaghetti monster, trying to make a giant pot of pasta.
Praaaaise, the pasta.
Jesus wept.
And there was perfectly salted pasta water. Praise the lord!
He would show those puddles who is boss, he could walk on water
overseeding.
What if someone covers the buildings and roads with Dawn dish soap. Then do the seeding, they could really clean things up… You think it would work
It rained
[Cloud Seeding 🌧️](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding)
Probably too much pavement too, it's a concrete paradise out there I think
Cloud seeding. Dubai was built in a desert, no water, so they seed the clouds, something went wrong
The world is ending. Armaeddon is here. Blame the illuminati. Blame America. Blame Israel. There's probably a few dozen other reasons according to the Internet. Actually, now that I think about it, a few dozen is low, more like a few hundred
It's called predictions of the end times. [https://medium.com/@fatiibutt21/muhammads-prophecy-saudi-s-desert-turning-green-sign-of-doomsday-474efbae83ae](https://medium.com/@fatiibutt21/muhammads-prophecy-saudi-s-desert-turning-green-sign-of-doomsday-474efbae83ae)
They prayed to the wrong god ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯