Pakistan's Karachi records hottest April temperature in decades, warnings issued

Pakistan’s Karachi on Saturday witnessed the hottest April in over 70 years as the temperature reached 43.6 degrees Celsius with 6 per cent humidity. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued warnings of the heatwave currents across several parts of the country as the dry winds swept on one of the most scorching days in decades. Karachi’s Met Office said, according to ANI that cited local broadcaster GEO TV.  

As summers set in, Pakistan’s Karachi crossed the maximum temperature threshold of 40 degrees celsius resulting in heatwaves and extremely dry conditions. The Sindh government issued an advisory to the residents to avoid non-essential travel between 11 am till 4 pm mainly due to heat and soaring temperatures. It also directed authorities to take necessary precautions to avert loss of life, issuing the alert. A PMD spokesperson and the chief meteorological officer of Sindh province, Sardar Sarfaraz said that the highest temperature was recorded within the port metropolis. 

“A weak western disturbance is on the horizon. It will affect the upper parts of the country, but when it passes, it will bring more hot days for the southern parts, including Karachi,” the chief meteorological officer of Sindh told reporters. His remarks came as weather forecast reports predicted that the maximum temperature will prevail at least throughout the week as a result of dry continental air due to the extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region. 

'Highest temperature record' in Asian subcontinent 

The region worst impacted by the scorching temperature in Pakistan is Nawabshah in the Sindh province, southern Pakistan, approximately 180km to the northeast of Karachi. It inhabits a population of 1.1 million. The city, however, has shattered records of maximum temperature on more than one occasion with the mercury hitting as high as 53 degrees Celsius or 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit during May in 2018, prompting warnings from French meteorologist Etienne Kapikia, and setting new “highest temperature record” in the Asian subcontinent. As many as 65 fatalities resulted in that year due to heat strokes in the southern city of Karachi as heatwaves coupled with electricity outages made life miserable and devastated the residents of Karachi. In 2015, similarly, Pakistan registered 1,300 deaths, mostly from low-income Landhi and Korangi areas around May due to heat.

(Image Credit: ANI)