KARACHI: A heatwave in the central and upper districts of southern Pakistan will grip the lower districts of the Sindh province for the next five days but the mega portside city of Karachi, where a 2015 heatwave killed over 2,000 people, is unlikely to witness the wave, officials said on Thursday.
A record-breaking heatwave that has been gripping India and Pakistan for weeks is expected to keep dragging on, meteorologists have warned in recent weeks.
For India, this past April was the hottest in 122 years and followed the hottest March on record. For Pakistan, it was the hottest April in 61 years. Jacobabad in Pakistan, already one of the hottest cities in the world, saw temperatures rise above 48 degrees Celsius.
On Thursday, the National Weather Forecasting Centre in Islamabad said hot and dry weather was expected in most parts of the country, while plain areas would remain under the grip of severe heatwave conditions.
On Wednesday, the maximum temperature in Sindh’s Jacobabad was 48 degrees Celsius, in Sibbi, Khairpur and Dadu 47, Mohenjodaro, Rohri, Larkana, Mithi district of Sindh and Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan 46, Met Office Karachi’s handout said.
“Almost entire province will be under the grip of heatwaves but there are no chances of it in Karachi,” Sardar Sarfaraz, a Met Office Karachi director, told Arab News, adding that extreme weather conditions would affect districts including Hyderabad, the second largest city in the province, where the temperature was expected to go up to 49 degrees Celsius.
Daytime maximum temperatures, the official said, could rise to 47-49 degree Celsius in Dadu, Nawabshah, Jacobabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Khairpur and Noushero Feroz, while 44–46-degree Celsius temperature was expected in Hyderabad, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparker districts.
In Karachi, the temperature could rise to 40 degree Celsius on Friday and Saturday.
Official say citizens should avoid sun exposure as much as possible, especially during peak heat hours.
“These extreme conditions, which are the result of global warming, will continue to stick as extreme till May 17,” Sarfaraz added.
In June 2015, a severe heat wave killed about 2,000 people in Karachi due to dehydration and heat stroke.
Sarfaraz said temperatures had risen in Karachi during the last one decade where the average maximum temperature in May, traditionally the hottest month in the port city, used to be 35.8 degree Celsius.
This year, even the months of March and April had been the warmest since 1961 as the country received 61 percent less rain in March and 72 less downpours in April.