Mercury touches 41 degrees Celsius as Karachi faces severe dry weather

Dry weather gripped Karachi on Sunday under the influence of a high pressure area in the upper atmosphere on Pakistan, resulting in an extremely hot day in the city with mercury touching 40.5 degrees Celsius and relative humidity (RH) dropping to as low as 8 per cent, said Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials on Sunday.

“Temperature reached 40.5 degrees Celsius with ultra-dry conditions, RH dropped to 8 per cent as hot winds from northwest were blowing across the city on Sunday,” Sindh Chief Meteorological Officer Dr Sardar Sarfraz told The News.

A large number of people remained indoors due to the hot and dry condition in Karachi, and most streets remained deserted as Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far.

However, PMD officials said there were at least two days of relief ahead as the maximum temperature in the city was likely to remain between 34 and 36 degrees Celsius today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday). 

“After touching 40.5 degrees Celsius, weather started improving in the evening with a change in the wind direction and resumption of sea freeze and it is hoped that Karachi would come out of these hot and dry conditions by tonight, at least for coming two days,” Dr Sarfraz said. He maintained that weather would again turn hot and dry from Wednesday onwards.