By Mark Gray
6:00pm PDT, Apr 24, 2024
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Dubai is drying off after record-setting rainfall pummeled the area, grinding life to a halt on April 17.
According to Dubai's media office, the United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949.
Amid the bombardment of rain, the main airport diverted flights, freeways were shut down and people were forced to abandon their vehicles.
Reports emerged blaming the country's cloud-seeding program for the excessive rainfall, which weather experts later debunked.
Here, a driver is seen abandoning a submerged vehicle on a flooded highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
Keep reading for more stunning images from the Dubai rainfall and its aftermath…
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Two men used an inflatable bed to float above the water after downpours caused heavy flooding in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
Claims that a cloud-seeding program was to blame for the rainfall were challenged by weather experts.
"This was an extremely heavy rainfall event which dumped a year's worth of rain across a wide area in a single day. This part of the world is characterized by long periods without rain and then irregular, heavy rainfall, but even so, this was a very rare rainfall event," explained Professor Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at Britain's University of Reading who's studied rainfall patterns in the Gulf region.
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A truck is seen submerged in flood waters on a highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
"These storms appear to be the result of a mesoscale convective system — a series of medium-sized thunderstorms caused by massive thunderclouds, formed as heat draws moisture up into the atmosphere. These can create large amounts of rain, and when they occur over a wide area and one after another, can lead to seriously heavy downpours. They can rapidly lead to surface water floods, as we have seen in places such as Dubai airport," explained Professor Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at Britain's University of Reading who's studied rainfall patterns in the Gulf region.
"These types of intense rainfall events can be made more extreme due to climate change, as a warmer atmosphere will hold more water vapor. Climate scientists have been warning for many years that such extreme events will become more likely in a warmer climate and, indeed, we see this happening around us now," he continued.
"The UAE does have an operational cloud seeding program to enhance the rainfall in this arid part of the world, however, there is no technology in existence that can create or even severely modify this kind of rainfall event. Furthermore, no cloud seeding operations have taken place in this area recently," the professor added.
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An abandoned ambulance is seen submerged in flood waters on a highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Here, a man is seen walking in waist-high water past a submerged car that's been abandoned.
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Vehicles were abandoned on a flooded highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Vehicles were abandoned on a flooded highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Vehicles were damaged after a portion of a roadway collapsed from heavy rainfall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 16, 2024.
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People abandoned their submerged vehicles on a flooded highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Vehicles poked out of the water after being abandoned on a flooded highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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The skyline rose behind a van submerged in flood waters on a highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Members of the Dubai Civil Defense used a bowser to remove water from a flooded highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Vehicles were abandoned on a flooded highway after a rainstorm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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A man waded through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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Vehicles tried to drive through flooded streets following heavy rains in Dubai on April 17, 2024.
Dubai, the Middle East's financial center, has been paralysed by torrential rains that caused flooding across the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and left 18 dead in Oman on April 14 and 15.
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A man is seen sitting on a railing in front of a flooded restaurant as people wade through submerged streets in a flooded area after heavy rains soaked Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 17, 2024.
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A submerged duty machine is seen after heavy rain in United Arab Emirates on April 16, 2024.
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Vehicles drove on flooded streets following heavy rains in Dubai on April 17, 2024.
Dubai, the Middle East's financial center, was paralyzed by torrential rain that caused floods across the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and left 18 dead in Oman on April 14 and 15.
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Drivers navigate a flooded street following heavy rains in Dubai on April 17, 2024.
Dubai, the Middle East's financial center, was paralyzed by the torrential rain that caused floods across the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and left 18 dead in Oman on April 14 and 15.
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People walk through flood water near abandoned vehicles in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 16, 2024.
The UAE experienced its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949, Dubai's media office said in a statement.
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It's not the first time the streets have flooded…
On Feb. 12, 2024, a sports car navigated a flooded road where a water pump was hard at work following heavy rains in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
