March 2024 witnesses 47% above average rains

LAHORE:March 2024 has witnessed 47% above average rainfall due to unusual Western Disturbance (WDs) and the persistent westerly waves affected upper and central parts of the country.

Data collected from Met office revealed that the situation was similar on regional scale, i.e. Balochistan witnessed +91% above average rains, GB witnessed +68%, Sindh +64%, AJK +40% and KP +39% while Punjab was the only region to have experienced an average rainfall.

The wettest day of the month in the country was March 31 when Muzaffarabad City (AJK) recorded rainfall of 126.0mm. Whereas, Dir (KP) was the wettest place with 330.5mm monthly total rainfall.

During March, the data reveled, three strong WDs entered the country from 1-7, 9-14 & 21-31 March which gripped most parts of the country resulting in heavy/very heavy rain/wind/thunderstorm accompanied with hailstorms and snowfall over the hills in KP, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Kashmir, Punjab, Balochistan, and at a few places in Sindh.

The unusual prolonged wet spells dropped the temperatures to new lowest records at several places in Balochistan & Sindh. On the other hand, a short-lived heat-low developed over northwest Balochistan and eastern Sindh on 15-17 March which raised the day temperatures in Sindh during the period.

The other significant rainfalls recorded were Malam-Jabba 296.0mm, Muzaffarabad Airport 271.7mm, Muzaffarabad City 269.7mm, Pattan 268.0mm, Lower Dir 260.4mm, Rawalakot 250.0mm, Saidu Sharif 212.0mm, Kalam 210.7mm, Garhi Dupatta 208.3mm, Risalpur 197.0mm, Kakul 193.2mm, Cherat 191.0mm, Chitral 189.6mm, Peshawar City 167.6mm, Mirkhani 161.0mm, Takht Bai 159.4mm, Drosh 158.4mm, and Peshawar (BKIA) 155.3mm while the stations of Rahim Yar Khan, Sh Benzirabad, and Dadu recorded only traces of rainfall during the month.

The data showed that March 2024 national mean temperature of 18.78°C for Pakistan was -0.08°C lower than the country’s average of 18.86°C. However, diverse situation was witnessed in the regions i.e. AJK with 12.16°C (+0.93°C), GB with 9.72°C (+0.53°C), Punjab with 20.86°C (+0.34°C), Sindh with 24.67°C (+0.33°C) and KP with 14.72°C. All these provinces exhibited warmer than average temperatures while Balochistan with 18.34°C (-0.93°C) was the only region to have observed cooler than average temperature, the data showed and added the mean temperature anomalies of March 2024 were in range ±2.2°C in the country.

The night (minimum) temperature of 11.65°C was also slightly warmer by +0.25°C than the country’s average of 11.40°C during the month. However, the mean minimum temperature anomalies were -3.8 to +2.5 °C in the country with those being considerably higher over western Balochistan and eastern Sindh & Punjab.

The hottest day of the month was at Shaheed Benazirabad (Sindh) when it recorded 42.5°C temperature on 26 March whereas Mithi happened to be the warmest place with 35.5°C average maximum temperature during the month.

Kalam (KP) recorded the month’s coldest night temperature of -12.5°C on 5 March and incidentally been the coolest place with -4.3°C average minimum temperature.

On the other hand, on Wednesday Lahore witnessed dry and partly cloudy weather. Met officials said a shallow trough of westerly wave was affecting upper parts of the country and likely to persist during next 24 hours.

They predicted that on Thursday (today) mainly dry weather was expected in most parts of the country, while hot in southern parts. Rain-windstorm/thunderstorm (with snow over high mountains) was expected at isolated places in upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Rain-windstorm/thunderstorm may occur in south Punjab and southwestern Balochistan.

Rainfall was recorded at several cities across the country while snowfall was only recorded at Kalam. Wednesday’s highest maximum temperature was witnessed at Shaheed Benazirabad and Jacobabad where mercury reached 39°C while in Lahore it was 33.3°C and minimum was 18°C.