LAHORE: The previous month of August stood as the second wettest August during the past 64 years as it witnessed national area-weighted rainfall of 138.9mm, which was excessively above average (+147%).
Data collected from the MET office revealed that the heaviest one-day rainfall of 337 mm occurred at Lahore Airport (Punjab) on 1st August 2024. The same has been the wettest place with a monthly total of 603 mm.
The national mean monthly temperature of 29.90°C for Pakistan was cooler (with -0.36°C anomaly) than the country average of 30.25°C while the daytime (maximum) temperature at the country level was 34.94°C also cooler by -0.96°C than the country-average of 35.90°C due to which August 2024 stood 5th lowest mean maximum temperature August during past 64 years.
The data showed that the country-level nighttime (minimum) temperature of 24.79°C was warmer (+0.48°C anomaly) than the
countrywide average of 24.31°C. The hottest day of the month was observed at Nokkundi (Balochistan) on 15th August when it recorded a maximum temperature of 48.5°C. Coincidently, the same station was found to be the warmest place with a mean monthly maximum temperature of 43.2°C.
The coldest night temperature (10°C) of the month was recorded at Bagrote (GB) and Kalam (KP) on 10th August. Whereas, Rawalakot (AJ&K) and Malam-Jabba (KP) happened to be the coolest places with mean monthly minimum temperature of 15.2°C.
Met office data revealed that climatologically, August was considered a good rainy month of the year with rainfall contribution to the annual national total and monsoon (JAS) being 18.9% and 39.9%, respectively.
During the month, Pakistan experienced four moderate to heavy/ very heavy rain spells. The daily area-averaged rainfall. August 2024 rainfall was excessively above average with 138.9 mm (+147%) for Pakistan as a whole and stands second wettest August in Pakistan. However, the situation varied on a regional scale with four of the provinces/regions recording excessively above-average rainfall while two of the provinces recorded slightly above-average rainfall, i.e. Sindh with 234 mm (+337%) and Balochistan with 82.2 mm (+266%) both it ranked as 3rd wettest August during past 64 years, Punjab with 200.7 mm (+115%) observed 4th wettest August and GB with 30.9 mm (+85%) the 6th wettest August. The KP with 133.6 mm (+29%) and AJ&K with 170.5 mm (13%) both exhibited above-average rainfall.
The other significant rainfalls recorded in the month were Kakul 461.0 mm, Narowal 436.7 mm, Islamabad Zeropoint 424.1 mm, Mirpurkhas 384.9 mm, Chaklala Airbase 359.0 mm, Jhelum 356.6 mm, Gujranwala 353.5 mm, Balakot 351 mm, Mandibahauddin 321.3 mm, Mangla 320.3 mm, Khairpur 303 mm, Mithi 296.5 mm, Lahore City 290.7 mm, Sialkot Airport 284 mm, Jacobabad 281 mm, Multan Airport 275.6 mm, Hafizabad 273.8 mm, Murree 264 mm, Muzaffarabad Airport 258.5 mm, Rahim Yar Khan 258.2 mm, Sukkur 255 mm, Rohri 252 mm and Gujrat 251 mm. The Nokkundi was the only station that remained dry with no rain during the month.
Punjab, Balochistan, and Sindh experienced cooler-than-average temperatures in August, while AJ&K, GB, and KP had warmer-than-average temperatures. The night-time temperatures were also warmer than average across all regions.