Mercury touches 41°C again but PMD expects ‘better days ahead’

The weather remained very hot and dry in Karachi under the influence of a high pressure in the upper atmosphere, with the mercury touching 40.5 degrees Celsius with 25 per cent relative humidity, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials said on Friday.

“The prevailing very hot and dry weather spell over Karachi continued today with the mercury touching 40.5 degrees Celsius on Friday as hot and dry winds continued to blow in the city,” an official of the PMD said, adding that the hot and dry spell was likely to subside from Saturday.

“We are expecting the maximum temperature to remain in the range of 36-38 degrees Celsius in Karachi on Saturday and hot and humid weather on Sunday with the temperature ranging between 34-36 degrees Celsius,” the official said, adding that very hot and dry spell would persist in the rest of the districts of Sindh in the days to come.

To a query, the official said the start of Ramazan was expected on Sunday, and the weather in Karachi was expected to become normal from the next week, with the maximum temperature ranging between 33 and 35 degrees Celsius.

He said they were expecting the weather to remain normal for the next seven to 10 days. On Wednesday, the highest ever temperature in March was recorded in Karachi with mercury touching 42.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the Met Office, previously, the maximum temperature recorded in the month of March in Karachi was 42.2°C in 2010. The hot weather in the city for a few days has severely affected the routine life of citizens. Many people refrained from going out due to scorching heat and hot winds blowing in the city.