Shortly after Dubai’s flooding occurred, media outlets wasted no time attempting to link the event to climate change. Even Axios went so far to say the proof was clear. But it isn’t true. According to The New York Times, forecasters predicted the storm several days prior to the rainfall and warnings were even issued.

The Times also states that even though rainfall in Dubai is rare there are times it does occur.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula receives a scant few inches of rain a year, although scientists have found that a sizable chunk of that precipitation falls in infrequent but severe bursts, not as periodic showers.

U.A.E. officials said the 24-hour rain total on Tuesday was the country’s largest since records there began in 1949. But parts of the nation had experienced an earlier round of thunderstorms just last month.

Oman, with its coastline on the Arabian Sea, is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Past storms there have brought torrential rain, powerful winds and mudslides, causing extensive damage.

Even though stronger storms have been attributed to human-caused climate change, as The Times points out, that doesn’t mean rainfall patterns are locked in or are the same way in every part of the world. The Gray Lady also reports that even the United Nations’ IPCC’s sixth assessment says there isn’t enough information to assert how or even if climate change is affecting rainfall patterns in the Arabian Peninsula as well.

One other thing to keep in mind is that cities in desert areas don’t have infrastructure to handle floods if they occur. For example, many cities in the U.S. located in states, like in Arizona or New Mexico, can experience flooding resulting from serious rainstorms because it does not rain very often.

After the floods did occur, it was alleged that cloud seeding could have contributed to the storms since the United Arab Emirates has been experimenting with it since the 1990’s in which many other countries, including the United States, have experimented with cloud seeding too.

The Times also reveals that, while available research states that can affect rainfalls modestly, but not to the point where it can result in a rainstorm like Dubai experienced. U.A.E.’s weather service recently stated the country did not conduct cloud seeding during the latest storms.

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