July ninth wettest month in 63 years

LAHORE:The country witnessed above average (+70%) during the previous month of July and stood 9th wettest July during past 63 years.

Data collected from Meteorological office revealed that the previous record of national highest rainfall for the month of July was 177.80 mm, which occurred in 2022.

Meteorological department’s official data further revealed that the wettest day of the month in the country was July 23 when Lahore recorded 206 mm rainfall and interestingly this exceptional rainfall also made Lahore the wettest place with monthly total rainfall of 668.7 mm.

Climatologically, the July rainfall contribution to the national annual total and monsoon was 21.3% & 44.9% respectively. During July 2023, the country experienced 4-5 widespread heavy/very heavy rainfall spells. The situation was similar on regional scale too.

GB recording largely above average (44.30 mm/+233%) saw the wettest ever July during past 63 years (record was 44.20 mm in 1993), while, for Balochistan with 62.70 mm/+111% (record was 163.30 mm in 2022) and Sindh 146.0 mm/+143% (record is 245.40 mm in 2022) the month ranked 7th and 9th wettest July during past 63 years respectively.

Punjab with 152.80 mm/+47%, AJK with 27.70 mm/+31% and KP with 127.30 mm/+19% also observed above normal rainfall.

The other significant rains were recorded at Balakot 477.0 mm, Islamabad Zero Point 453.9 mm, Kasur 442.0 mm, Kakul 427.0 mm, Sialkot Cantt 422.4 mm, Murree 415.5 mm, Rawalpindi 408.0 mm, Rawlakot 400.9 mm, Muzaffarabad Airport 392.1 mm, Gujranwala Cantt 386.5 mm, Muzaffarabad City 379.0 mm, Chakwal 365.9 mm, Jhelum 346.4 mm, Padidan 327.6 mm, Malam Jabba 319.0 mm and Mandi Bahauddin 296.0 mm.

Nokkundi was the only station, which remained absolutely dry with no rain during the month. The national mean monthly temperature of July 2023 for Pakistan was 30.70°C, being -0.52°C cooler than average of 31.22°C. Daytime (maximum) temperature at country-level was 36.25°C, being -1.01°C cooler than the country-average of 37.26°C.

Data also revealed that the nighttime (minimum) temperature at country-level was 25.08°C, being -0.06°C cooler than the country’s average of 25.13°C.

The hottest day of the month was recorded in Dalbandin (Balochistan) on July 2 and in Nokkundi (Balochistan) during July 1 to 3, when it reached 47.5°C. Nokkundi, with a mean monthly maximum temperature of 43.6°C, was the warmest place during that month.

Similarly, the coldest temperature (6.5°C) of the month was recorded at Bagrote (GB) on July 8, 2023 whereas the Kalam being the coldest place with 11.4°C in mean monthly minimum temperature.

The situation was almost similar on the regional scale too as GB with 24.06 °C (-1.96 °C), KP with 28.14 °C (-0.86 °C), Punjab with 31.75 °C (-0.77 °C), Azad Jammu Kashmir 25.00 °C (-0.42 °C), and Balochistan with 31.57 °C (-0.31 °C) all recorded cooler than average temperatures.

Sindh with 32.56 °C (0.05 °C) was the only region that exhibited slightly warmer than average temperature.

July 2023 mean maximum (daytime) temperature of 36.25 °C recorded at country-level was also -1.01 °C cooler than average of 37.26 °C.

Similarly, the country-level night (minimum) temperature of 25.08 °C was -0.06 °C (slightly) cooler than average of 25.13 °C (Table-5).

The mean temperature anomalies ranged from -5.1 to +1.8 °C while the mean maximum temperature anomalies were from -4.1 to +1.8 °C in the country, being considerably higher in lower Sindh.

Meanwhile, the city witnessed humid weather with scattered rain on Monday. Met officials said moist currents from Arabian sea were penetrating in upper parts of the country while a westerly wave was also present over upper parts.

They predicted that hot and humid weather was expected in most parts of the country. However, rain-wind/thundershower was expected in Kashmir, Pothohar region, upper Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Monday’s highest maximum temperature was recorded at Dalbandin where mercury reached 44°C while in Lahore it was 35.5°C and minimum was 27.8°C.