As mercury hits 41.5°C, weather experts fear hotter April

Karachi endured a hot day for a third consecutive day on Thursday when the mercury hit 41.5°C after a high-pressure area over Sindh and Balochistan cut the south-westerly winds of sea breeze towards the city around noon and afternoon, said the Met Office.

Met Office Karachi chief Abdur Rashid said the temperature will start falling on Friday, adding that Saturday onwards, the weather will start turning moderate to pleasant.

He reiterated that the current hot spell is not a heatwave. Weather in the city started turning hot to very hot on Sunday when the temperature suddenly rose from 34°C to 39°C, with the next four days witnessing continual rise of the mercury, making Thursday the hottest day of the current spell with 41.5°C.

The recent hot spell, however, did not break the record of the hottest day this time of the year that was witnessed eight years ago, when the city’s temperature rose to 42.2°C on March 20, 2010.

Weather pundits say Karachi is not used to experiencing such hot weather in March, but they should brace for a “hot to very hot April and a very, very hot May and June” due to changing climatic conditions, rise in the Arabian Sea’s temperature and the resulting high- and low-pressure areas in it.

They say sea breeze cools down Karachi and prevents it from turning into a hot oven due to dry and warm winds from the plains of Sindh and Balochistan, but the suspension of sea breeze will become more common in the months ahead and people will have to endure hotter days and even nights.

Rashid said they cannot change the weather or prevent hot weather from affecting the city, but precautionary measures can be taken in the light of the warnings issued by the Met Office to save lives.

“We are keeping a close eye on the changing weather patterns and will issue heatwave warnings days in advance so that people and the authorities can take precautionary and preventive measures so that loss of precious lives can be prevented.”

According to the Met Office, the city can face more severe heatwaves due to creation of low-pressure areas in the Arabian Sea, as its temperature is rising with each passing year and if these low-pressure areas remain stationary in the sea in front of Karachi, they can cut off the sea breeze to the city again.

“In fact, it was a low-pressure area in the Arabia Sea that sucked off air and moisture and changed the wind direction in June 2015 that resulted in mass casualties in Karachi after the mercury soared to 46°C, but heat index or feeling of heat touched 64°C.”