PMD predicted such heat wave in Sindh, southern Punjab and KP in coming days
Global warming has brought scorching temperatures around the world. The resulting extreme weather causes highest recorded temperatures in the ongoing summer in Pakistan.
Yesterday, 28th May 2017, the citizens of Turbat had to face highest ever recorded temperature in Pakistan as the mercury shot up to 53.5°C on Sunday. This day has being marked as the hottest day in Pakistan’s history.
According to a senior meteorologist at the Met Department, the previous highest temperature recorded in Turbat was 52°C on May 30, 2009. He said the temperature in Turbat kept fluctuating between 50°C and 52°C over the past few days, but peaked on Sunday.
Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) compiled some data this year that the temperature in Sukkur on April 16 was recorded at 47°C. The previous highest temperature recorded in April was 46.5°C on April 25, 2000. Meanwhile, temperatures in Larkana, Sibi, Dera Ismail Khan and Faisalabad broke decades-old records for April, according to the Met Department’s data.
The meteorologist predicted that the current heat wave would persist across the country for the next three to four days in interior Sindh, southern Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
However, Pakistan Meteorological Department said that pre-monsoon is expected to start in Pakistan in the second week of June, which will help bring the temperature down.
Before yesterday, the highest temperature ever recorded in Pakistan was 53.5 °C which was recorded in Mohenjo-daro, Sindh on 26 May 2010. The temperature equalled the one measured yesterday in Turbat, Baluchistan.
The second-highest temperature ever recorded in Pakistan is 53 °C (127 °F) which was recorded in Larkana, Sindh on 26 May 2010. It is hottest city in Pakistan, as well as the second hottest city in the world.
The current global record is 56.7°C, recorded in Death Valley, US on June 10, 1913, though some scientists believe that this number is questionable for various reasons. The next highest and most reliable is 53.9°C which was also recorded in Death Valley on five occasions – July 20, 1960, July 18, 1998, July 20, 2005, July 7, 2007, and June 30, 2013.
A figure of 54°C was also recorded at the Mitribah weather station in Kuwait on July 21, 2016, while Basra, Iraq recorded 53.9°C the very next day. The readings are currently being investigated by the World Meteorological Organisation.