• Dubai is using ultramodern drone technology to create rain in the middle of a heatwave
  • The city ventured into the ambitious project to address water needs and lower daytime temperatures
  • Dubai previously considered building an artificial mountain to create rain

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The city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) usually experiences low rainfall and scorching temperatures around the clock. This is because this elegant city is located in a desert.

To cool down the city and increase rainfall, the city is working on manipulating the weather. Their efforts have so far been successful as scientists created artificial rain.

On Sunday, 18 July, the UAE meteorological department released footage of cars driving through a downpour. In an Instagram post, the officials divulged that it rained in Ras al Khaimah, in the northern part of the country.

Drone technology

According to The Independent, the scientists launched drones which "shock" clouds into producing rain.

The aim is to increase Dubai’s rainfall from four inches a year. In comparison, Nairobi receives around 36.4 inches of rain annually.

“What we are trying to do is to make the droplets inside the clouds big enough so that when they fall out of the cloud, they survive down to the surface,” meteorologist Keri Nicoll told CNN in May before beginning testing the drones near Dubai.

BBC reported that in 2017, the government gave around KSh 1.5 billion for nine different rain-enhancement projects.

“The water table is sinking drastically in the UAE, and the purpose of this project is to try to help with rainfall,” meteorologist Maarten Ambaum told BBC.

Creating mountain

The UAE is no stranger to ambitious projects since they have the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, among other engineering marvels.

However, their most ambitious project was arguably the construction of a mountain to create rainfall.

In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the artificial mountain would force warm air to rise, cool, condense and form clouds resulting in rain.

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Freeze frame: South Africans react to photos of heavy snowfall in Eastern Cape

While temperatures have dropped in South Africa due to another cold front, the Eastern Cape province is experiencing below-zero temperatures that have resulted in snowfall in parts of the province.

Snow Report previously warned that snowfall would start on Tuesday in parts of South Africa, Lesotho and Nambia. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) stated cold temperatures are expected to last the coming weekend, according to a report by News24.

While other parts of South Africa have had snowfall since Tuesday, people took to Twitter to share images of fresh snowfall in the Eastern Cape.

One user compared to Eastern Cape to Russia because of the freezing cold conditions.

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