KARACHI: The country recei­ved excessively above-average rainfall during April this year, making it the wettest April since 1961, ac­­c­o­rding to Pakistan’s monthly climate summary released by the meteorological department on Friday.

The summary contains detailed information from 25 climate stations of the country.

The data shows that April 2024 set 17 new weather records, including heaviest one-day rainfall, wettest month, and coldest day temperature.

The national area-weighted rainfall for April 2024 was excessively above average, exceeding it by 164 per cent and marking a record as the wettest April since 1961 (the previous record being 55.8mm in 1983). Record-breaking rainfalls were also observed in some regions.

The month sets 17 new weather records, including heaviest one-day rainfall, and coldest day temperature

The heaviest one-day rainfall of 91.0mm occurred in Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on the 14th, and Malam-Jabba (KP) on the 20th of the month. Malam-Jabba was the wettest place with a total monthly rainfall of 520.0mm.

Other significant rainfall totals were recorded in Dir (461.9mm), Saidu Sharif (382.0mm), Kalam (379.6mm), Rawalakot (363.8mm), Lower Dir (346.9mm), Drosh (300.4mm), Kakul (289.0mm), Chitral (283.5mm), Garhi Dupatta (280.3mm), Mirkhani (270.0mm), Pattan (261.0mm), Peshawar Airbase (235.5mm), Peshawar Bacha Khan Airport (220.7mm), Muzaffarabad Airport (216.5mm), Muzaffarabad City (213.5mm), Peshawar City (208.8mm), and Murree (205.5mm). Dadu recorded only traces of rainfall during the month.

The hottest day of the month was observed in Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, with a maximum temperature of 43.5°C on April 8. The coldest day, at 3.2°C, was recorded in Chitral on April 15. The same place was also found to be the warmest place with a mean monthly maximum temperature of 39.4°C.

The warmest night, at 26.5°C, was recorded in Hyderabad on the 29th, and Karachi on the 18th and 30th.

The coldest night temperature (-4.0°C) of the month was recorded in Kalam on April 4, which also had the coolest mean monthly minimum temperature of 0.4°C.

The national mean monthly temperature for Pakistan was 23.67°C, lower than the country’s average of 24.54°C.

“The El Nino–Southern Oscillation is turning into a neutral phase with sea surface temperatures around +0.8°C over the central equatorial Pacific. International models forecast further cooling of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific in the months ahead. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is gradually turning into a positive phase,” the report says.

Back-to-back westerly waves

The report highlights that the most dominant features of the month were the unusual western disturbances, which entered through the western and northern parts of the country and spread over the upper and central regions.

Three consecutive westerly waves entered the country during the month, affecting KP, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Punjab, Balochistan, and parts of Sindh.

As a result, widespread dust-thunderstorms/rain of moderate to heavy intensity, with a few instances of very heavy falls accompanied by hailstorms and snowfall over hills, occurred in KP, GB, Kashmir, Punjab, Balochistan, and a few places in Sindh. These systems triggered flash floods in Balochistan and upper KP, as well as riverine flooding in the Kabul River.

The rest of the days remained under continental air over most parts of the country.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2024