In Pakistan, low rain makes last month second driest August in 63 years

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Tuesday announced that last month was the second driest August in the country's history.

According to the PMD's monthly climate summary, the national rainfall for the month of August witnessed a significant drop of -66 per cent, making it the second driest August in 63 years.

The highest temperature recorded in August 2023 was 46.5°C in Balochistan's Turbat city. Meanwhile, the country's highest daytime temperature witnessed an increase of 0.44°C and was recorded at 36.34°C.

The PMD's report recorded Dalbandin as the warmest place with a 42.6°C average maximum monthly temperature.

It is to be noted that the driest August recorded in Pakistan's history was back in 1993 when the country received a meagre 16.4 millimetres (mm) of rainfall.

Additionally, the coldest temperature (6.5°C) of the month was recorded in Kalam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on August 29, 2023, and coincidently, the same station was the coolest place with 10.5°C mean monthly minimum temperature.

"For Balochistan, it’s the driest August, for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab the second driest, for Azad Jammu Kashmir the third driest and Sindh the sixth driest month," the Met Office said in its report.

As per the PMD, the wettest day of the month in the country was August 5, when Gujranwala (Punjab) recorded 102.0mm rainfall; whereas Lower Dir was the wettest location with monthly total rainfall recorded at 231.0mm.

"The national mean monthly temperature of August 2023 for Pakistan as a whole was 30.44°C, being 0.19°C warmer than the average of 30.25°C," the Met department's summary read.

The night-time (minimum) temperature at the country level, the Met Office mentioned, was 24.50°C, being 0.20°C warmer than the country average of 24.31°C.

"The AJK with 32.34°C (+1.79°C) observed the highest mean maximum temperature during the past 63 years (the record was 32.03°C in 2009)," the PMD said.