Rain in May ???

Tuesday morning we had quite a heavy shower of rain and thunder storm, nothing in that you may say...... but here in Dubai it is phenomenal, it does not rain after March until at least December.....

Today I was sent this cutting from the paper, which answers all the queries.

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An official of the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) on Wednesday confirmed the centre had carried out cloud seeding tests on clouds that came in from southern Saudi Arabia.
Cloud seeding experiment has thundering success
By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief Published: May 08, 2008, 00:09
Al Ain: Tuesday's thunderstorm in the western and southern parts of the emirates was a result of a cloud seeding (artificial rain) test conducted by the weather authorities.
The storm produced intermittent rain in parts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It was a surprising phenomenon in the late-spring month of May for the public and some weathermen.
An official of the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) on Wednesday confirmed the centre had carried out cloud seeding tests on clouds that came in from southern Saudi Arabia. 

Residents and weathermen were baffled by the occurrence of thunderstorms in May.
"I was amazed to hear about a thunderstorm," said a weatherman requesting anonymity.
He said it was an unusual development of CB clouds, the clouds that generate thunderstorms, as most converge over the UAE in the winter, he added.
Abdullah Ahmad Al Mandoos, Executive Director of NCMS, said the cloud seeding test was successful and more experiments would be conducted in the next three months but depending on the weather conditions.
The NCMS director said Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, has played a vital role in the project and has provided a plane and other facilities for its implementation.
"He gives continuous guidance," he added.
He said the objective of the project is to enhance the national water resources, ground storage, and recycling of freshwater.

We dream of being able to modify the weather, especially as pearls of perspiration line brows and march down collars. It may not be such an outlandish idea if one goes by cloud seeding.
This is the natural process, in case of cloud seeding different types of cloud condensation nuclei are artificially introduced to accelerate the warm rain or cold rain process. However, it can only be done if the cloud system is of the necessary size, with sufficient lifespan and has enough water saturation. Most scientists say it is all about assisting nature.
Seeding is done using flares dropped from aircrafts

As nations look for answers to the problem of water shortage, controlled cloud seeding could be one of the key options.
- Anupa Kurian, Readers Editor