Climate of Pakistan
Pakistan's climate varies from a continental type of climate in the north, a mountainous dry climate in the west, a wet climate in the East an arid climate in the Thar Desert, to a tropical climate in the southeast, characterized by extreme variations in temperature, both seasonally and daily, because it is located on a great landmass barely north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Very high altitudes modify the climate in the cold, snow-covered northern mountains; temperatures on the Balochistan plateau are somewhat higher. Along the coastal strip, the climate is modified by sea breeze. In the rest of the country, temperatures reach great heights in the summer; the mean temperature during June is in the plains, the highest temperatures can exceed. During summer, hot winds called Loo blow across the plains during the day. Trees shed their leaves to avoid loss of moisture. Pakistan recorded one of the highest temperatures in the world, 53.7 °C on 28 May 2017, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Pakistan and also the second hottest measured temperature ever recorded in Asia.
The dry, hot weather is broken occasionally by dust storms and thunderstorms that temporarily lower the temperature. Evenings are cool; the daily variation in temperature may be as much as 11 °C to 17 °C. Winters are cold, with minimum mean temperatures in Punjab of about in January, and sub-zero temperatures in the far north and Balochistan.
Winters are extremely cold in the north and the milder they get the more you go to the south. Spring causes heavy rainfall in the northern parts while it is mild in most parts of Pakistan. Summers are sweltering, boiling and extremely hot in central Balochistan, southern Punjab and Upper Sindh while it gets milder the more you go to the north and the coast. The Monsoon season also occurs in the summer season.
Autumn is pleasant but gets cooler day by day with almost no rainfall. Winter in some parts even starts in late October-early November.
Climate geography
The monsoon and the Western Disturbance are the two main factors which alter the weather over Pakistan; Continental air prevails for the rest of the year. Following are the main factors that influence the weather over Pakistan.- Western Disturbances mostly occur during the winter months and cause light to moderate showers in southern parts of the country while moderate to heavy showers with heavy snowfall in the northern parts of the country. These westerly waves are robbed of most of the moisture by the time they reach Pakistan.
- Fog occurs during the winter season and remains for weeks in upper Sindh, central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
- Southwest Monsoon occurs in summer from the month of June till September in almost whole Pakistan excluding western Balochistan, FATA, Chitral and Gilgit–Baltistan. Monsoon rains bring much awaited relief from the scorching summer heat. These monsoon rains are quite heavy by nature and can cause significant flooding, even severe flooding if they interact with westerly waves in the upper parts of the country.
- Tropical storms usually form during the summer months from late April till June and then from late September till November. They affect the coastal localities of the country.
- Dust storms occur during summer months with peak in May and June. They are locally known as Andhi. These dust storms are quite violent. Dust storms during the early summer indicate the arrival of the monsoons while dust storms in the autumn indicate the arrival of winter.
- Heat waves occur during May and June, especially in southern Punjab, central Balochistan and upper Sindh.
- Thunderstorms most commonly occur in northern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir.
- Continental air prevails during the period when there is no precipitation in the country.
The climate in the capital city of Islamabad varies from an average daily low of 2 °C in January to an average daily high of 38 °C in June. Half of the annual rainfall occurs in July and August, averaging about 255 millimeters in each of those two months. The remainder of the year has significantly less rain, amounting to about fifty millimeters per month. Hailstorms are common in the spring.
Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, which is also the country's industrial center, is more humid than Islamabad but gets less rain, but still possesses a tropical climate. Only July, August and September average more than 75 millimeters of rain in the Karachi area; the remaining months are rather dry. The temperature is also more uniform in Karachi than in Islamabad, due to its tropical climate, ranging from an average daily low of 13 °C during winter evenings to an average daily high of 34 °C on summer days. Although the summer temperatures do not get as high as those in Punjab, the high humidity causes the residents a great deal of discomfort. In Islamabad, there are cold winds from the north of Pakistan.
A high of 53.7 °C was recorded in Turbat, Balochistan on 28 May 2017. It was not only the hottest temperature ever recorded in Pakistan but also the second verified hottest temperature ever recorded in Asia as of 2019 and the fourth highest temperature ever recorded on earth. The highest rainfall of was recorded in Islamabad during 24 hours on 24 July 2001. The record-breaking rain fell in just 10 hours. It was the heaviest rainfall in Islamabad in the previous 100 years.