‘First spell of winter showers to last till Saturday night’

  Met dept says temperature may drop to 8 degrees Celsius in the city on Sunday

Karachi received its first winter showers on Friday afternoon when a Westerly weather system over Balochistan reached the city too, and usual the citizens had to put up with power outages, traffic jams and rainwater accumulated on roads and streets.

Intermittent light to moderate rain continued till Friday night while the Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast that it will continue till late Saturday night in Karachi, especially in its western areas.

 “Under the influence of an active Westerly wave, it is raining in Balochistan and that system has also caused light showers in the western parts of Karachi,” Met Karachi director Abdur Rashid said. Rainfall will continue in Balochistan and Karachi for the next 24 hours.

The Met office said the highest amount of rainfall was recorded at Masroor and Faisal Bases at 6mm, followed by 4.5mm at the PMD observatory on University Road and 4mm in North Karachi and North Nazimabad. The Karachi airport and its adjoining areas received 2.4mm of rain while the eastern parts of the city including Landhi and Gulshan-e-Hadeed only received traces of rain.

The Met department said the weather would remain cloudy with chances of rain and thunderstorm on Saturday in the city.

Power outages

Power went out in several areas of the city when the rainfall started including North Nazimabad, Federal B Area, Bufferzone, Nazimabad, North Karachi, Korangi and parts of Landhi, Tariq Road.

The K-Electric said its teams had restored feeders that had tripped because of rain. It added that some areas experienced partial power outages including Clifton, Shah Faisal, Malir, Tipu Sultan Road and Landhi, as well parts of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and the affected feeders were restored immediately.

A K-Electric spokesperson said the power utility’s response teams were alert following the prediction of rain and responded swiftly to restore electricity to the affected areas. The spokesperson advised consumers to stay away from broken wires, electrical poles and transformers.

 

Cold wave

The weather system in Balochistan and Karachi will result in a further drop in temperature in Balochistan and Karachi, the Met Karachi director said. He predicted that temperature in Karachi may drop to 8 degrees Celsius on Sunday and Monday.

“The temperature will remain normal on Friday and Saturday during light rain but on Sunday and Monday, a cold wave may grip the city and Balochistan and temperature may drop to between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius,” he added.

The minimum temperature recorded during the last 24 hours was 11 degrees Celsius in Karachi and officials said minimum temperature would remain between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius on Saturday.