Mercury soars to 42 degrees again

Karachiites expecting a brief respite from the heat on Friday were in for a shock as the mercury again soared to 42 degrees Celsius after dipping to 37 degrees the day before. As the sea breeze stopped briefly and humidity increased, citizens had to face another day of discomfort as power outages and water shortages hit.

Karachiites, who had been enduring a nearly week-long heatwave, finally breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday when the temperature dropped to 37 degrees Celsius – a 6 degrees drop from 43 degrees reported on Wednesday. However, Friday saw the mercury rise above 40 degrees again even though the Met Office had predicted that the heatwave would taper off by then.

According to Karachi Met Office Director Abdur Rashid, the rise occurred after sea breeze stopped and wind from North Westerly direction started blowing in the city. He said the temperature would reduce and remain in the range of 38 to 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday (today), however, it would still be a hot and humid day.

Rashid said May, June and October are warm months for Karachi when the weather usually remains hot and humid. He added that the coming month of June would also be very hot and humid due to growing surface temperature in the Arabian Sea.

Weather experts have already warned Karachiites of another looming heatwave in the end of May or by the start of June, saying that two to three heatwaves could strike Karachi in the next 40 days under the influence of low pressure areas in the sea and upper Sindh.

“The Met department is keeping an eye on changing weather conditions and we would urge people to take precautionary measures in case of a forecast for a hot and humid day as discomfort level increases very much due to high humidity in the air on a hot day,” Rashid said.

No casualties

Fortunately, no one was officially reported dead during the recent heatwave in Karachi, most probably due to a lack of humidity and the growing awareness among people.

This is in contrast to 2015 when thousands of people had died after a deadly heatwave triggered by a well-marked depression in the Arabian Sea had deprived the city of sea breeze for four to five days during the month of Ramazan. The metropolis has witnessed three heatwaves so far since March with a fourth predicted to hit next week.