Almost normal monsoon rainfall until now

Islamabad: Overall, the country has recorded almost normal rainfall since the start of the monsoon season.

For the July-September monsoon season, the Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast it is likely to rain in the country 10-20 per cent ‘above normal’.

“During the first 20 days of the ongoing monsoon season i.e. July 1 to July 20, rainfall all over the country remained close to its normal value, five per cent above it to be exact, on the whole. On the regional scale, variability of rain was observed. The rainfall was above normal in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, close to normal in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and below normal in Sindh and Balochistan,” said the PMD in a report compiled by weatherman Nadeem Faisal.

According to the PMD, normally the country records 34 millimetres rainfall during the first 20 days of the monsoon season but the rains reported countrywide in the period this time around was 35.9 millimetres with an increase of five per cent.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest ‘above normal’ rainfall in the country, 112.2mm against the normal of 61.7mm (74 per cent increase) followed by Punjab with 72.8mm against 57.8mm (26 per cent increase), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir with 71.6mm against 69.6mm (three per cent increase).

Among the areas, which recorded the ‘below normal’ rainfall, Sindh was on top with 1.3mm against the normal of 30.3mm (96 per cent decrease) followed by Balochistan with 11.3mm against 16.1mm (30 per cent decrease) and Gilgit-Baltistan with 5.7mm against 16.1mm (seven per cent decrease).