The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted an onslaught of intense heat wave in June in interior Sindh as expected to break Turbat’s record of  two-day sustained temperature at 53 Celsius.

Dr Ghulam Rasul Director General PMD spoke to The Express Tribune, “Considering the ongoing weather situation in the country, it is expected that in June the temperatures in major cities like Turbat, Mohen-jo-Daro, Sibbi, Jaccobad, Larkana, Dadu, Nokkundi, Dalbandin, Bhakkar, Sakrund and Sukkur will cross 53 Celsius.”

Considering the ongoing weather changes ‘unusual’, he said temperatures have also proven anomalous in northern areas rising to 36 to 37 Celsius this month.

PMD on Tuesday forecast that temperature may soar to 40 degrees on Celsius scale in the first 2 weeks of Ramazan in Karachi.

The hottest day of Pakistan was recorded on May 28 (Sunday) in Turbat when temperature soared to 53.3 Celsius.

The temperature matched the one measured on May 27, 2010 in Mohenjo Daro which broke a 12-year record – 53°C in Larkana on May 31, 1998.

The current record is 56.7°C, recorded in Death Valley, US on Jun 10, 1913, though some scientists believe that this number is questionable for various reasons. The next highest and most reliable is 53.9°C  which was also recorded in Death Valley on five occasions – July 20, 1960, July 18, 1998, July 20, 2005, July 7, 2007, and June 30, 2013.

A figure of 54°C was also recorded at the Mitribah weather station in Kuwait on July 21, 2016, while Basra, Iraq recorded 53.9°C the very next day. The readings are currently being investigated by the World Meteorological Organisation.