UAE Conducts Over 100 Cloud-Seeding Missions in 2025

Since the beginning of 2025, the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology has carried out more than 100 cloud-seeding missions in an effort to enhance rainfall. Despite these efforts, this year has been notably drier compared to the previous one, with minimal precipitation recorded across most regions. The highest rainfall so far—20.1 mm—was observed on January 14 at Jebel Jais station in Ras Al Khaimah.

The UAE remains a global leader in cloud-seeding technology, deploying aircraft equipped with salt-flare rockets to stimulate rain formation. These planes are strategically dispatched to target clouds at optimal times to maximize effectiveness. Currently, the center operates six specialized aircraft dedicated to weather modification.

While cloud-seeding efforts in 2024 successfully replenished groundwater and reservoir supplies, this year’s dry spell has posed challenges. Meteorologists attribute the unusual weather patterns largely to La Niña, a complex climatic phenomenon that occurs every few years due to fluctuations in Pacific Ocean temperatures. La Niña disrupts normal weather systems, often leading to extreme conditions such as heavy storms in some regions and prolonged droughts in others.

As the UAE continues to invest in rain-enhancement technology, the effectiveness of cloud-seeding remains closely monitored, particularly in the face of shifting global climate patterns.

Source: Khaleej Times