KARACHI: On a rooftop of his 120-square-yard home in Karachi’s Azizabad neighbourhood and with a cell phone in his hand, Syed Owais Haider works through the drizzle under thick, dark clouds to collect data from his automated weather station.

The integrated system of components used to measure, record and often transmit weather parameters, such as temperature, wind speed and direction, gives him data to make short-term forecasts amid the ongoing wave of monsoon rains in Karachi.

This is one of 11 weather stations he and his friends are operating across Karachi and 15 across the country for daily weather updates, data and forecasts under Pak Weather Network — a more than decade-old private weather forecasting and broadcasting source.

Mr Haider’s network is one of few private weather forecasting and broadcasting sources in the country, creating waves these days amid growing challenges of climate change and fast-changing weather.

As citizens dispense updates on their own, official urges caution to avoid unnecessary panic

“It was in 2010 when we took this initiative,” he says. “It all came out of curiosity and interest in meteorology.”

He says his team monitors upper air charts and current conditions, such as temperature, pressure, humidity and wind speed, and follows international weather models like the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) and Global Forecast System (GFS) to make local weather forecasts.

Widespread popularity

Private weather forecasting groups have gained in popularity in recent years amid fast-changing weather across the country, leading to more frequent heatwaves, chilling winters and heavy rains.

What also fuels their rise is the impression that the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) operates with the same traditional conservative approach when it comes to weather forecasting and predictions about approaching conditions.

However, people closely monitoring them and working with them believe that such groups are still evolving and their lack of capacity sometimes creates panic.

“I have learnt a lot through these private groups,” says Uneeba Waqar, a broadcast journalist who actually introduced these private weather station operators to the mainstream media through her reporting.

“Until a few years ago, information regarding fast-changing weather conditions, developing situations and reasons behind different trends were hard to find. We could only report the official numbers,” she says.

Read: Engaging private sector to tackle climate change

However, she still feels that the aggressive approach of private weather groups and sharing of premature developments sometimes creates uncertainty and panic, putting everyone’s reputation at risk.

Despite the catch, she thinks it’s a good and healthy trend, especially amid the growing challenge of climate change and stresses the need for a collaboration between these private groups and government institutions.

Jawad Memon, who has been independently operating Weather Updates PK for the last 15 years and boasts nearly 300,000 followers on his Facebook page, agrees with the idea.

He believes that despite a lack of resources and capacity, things can significantly improve if support and collaboration come from the government level.

“I am doing all this alone to keep people across Pakistan informed and updated,” he says. “From model analysis, collection of data and even videography, I don’t have any other source. I am doing all this out of passion and craze.”

‘Unbaked data creates panic’

Dr Sardar Sarfaraz, the chief meteorologist at the PMD, also doesn’t discourage these private groups and finds it a healthy sign to see youngsters taking interest in meteorology and making efforts on their own.

He, however, calls for following the set protocols and standards for accuracy that he thinks private weather stations usually lack. “Meteorology is a complete science and making forecasts is absolutely a professional job,” he says.

As an example, he says when “we at the PMD make forecasts, we even analyse regional countries’ data collected from them officially through some state-level arrangements”.

Dr Sarfaraz also denies the impression that the PMD holds the information or shares it at a slow pace.

“The fact is that we are bound to certain protocols and can only share any data or info or make forecasts when things are mature,” he says. “Unbaked data and immature information always do the damage and create panic.”

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2022