Karachi to get chillier as mercury may drop to 7-8°C

Temperatures may further drop in Karachi under the influence of Siberian winds, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) officials said on Tuesday, saying the next three nights would be very cold with the mercury dropping to 7-8 degrees Celsius.

“The minimum temperature in Karachi may further fall one to two degrees Celsius followed by strong cold winds over the next two days. People in Karachi experienced the coldest night of the year between Sunday and Monday when the mercury dropped to 9 degrees Celsius, but we are expecting it to further fall to 7 degree Celsius tonight or during the next two nights,” said Sardar Srafraz, chief meteorological officer of Sindh, told The News on Tuesday.

He maintained that the entire country was experiencing extremely cold and dry conditions under the influence of Siberian high pressure, and Karachi would have cool nights too.

PMD officials said the night between Sunday and Monday was the coldest when the temperature dropped to 9.2 degrees Celsius under the influence of Siberian winds.

The lowest ever temperature in the month of December in Karachi was 1.3C, which was recorded in 1986, while the mercury dropped to zero degree Celsius in January 1934, said Sarfraz.

Pakistan Meteorological Department officials said a western disturbance would enter Pakistan from Iran on January 3 or January 4, 2020, under whose influence many areas of Balochistan and Sindh were expected to get some rains, but the minimum temperature in Karachi was expected to rise for a few days.

“Light rain or drizzle is expected in Karachi January 6 or 7, 2020, under the influence of westerly disturbance, but the nighttime temperature is expected to rise for three to four days. As soon as this system is over, the minimum temperature is expected to drop again in Karachi,” Sarfraz said and added that the temperature could even drop up to 8 degrees Celsius in January.

He said January is a colder month as compared to December in Pakistan, and they are expecting the cold wave to continue in January that has dripped the entire country at the moment.

Pakistan is in the grip of severe cold where the temperatures in hilly areas have dropped below freezing point, while in the plains of Punjab and Sindh, extremely cold conditions are also being experienced. In Balochistan, the temperature dropped to minus three (-3) degrees Celsius on the previous night, PMD officials said.