LAHORE: Maximum temperature is set to witness 45 degree Celsius plus by 15th of May, said Pakistan Meteorological Department official on Tuesday.

Talking to Business Recorder, Director PMD Shahid Abbas said the weather model was suggesting a constant upsurge in temperature from 11th of May to 16th May.

It may be noted that the temperature has registered an increase after Eid. Earlier, the temperature had reached 43C, followed by a drop by four to five degree near Eid. According to him, maximum temperature would keep rising throughout the month of May, followed by a reduction in the month of June ahead. He said dust storms would also be rampant during the month of May.

Meanwhile, the wee hours’ temperatures have also risen to 30C, resulting into hot mornings in the city. The Director PMD said heavy traffic on roads in urban centres would keep weather hot in the evenings against South Punjab where temperature turns cool with the disappearance of sun.

He said the water flow would keep fluctuating in between 150,000 to 200,000 cusecs in the rivers, leading to water scarcity in the country. Already, water flow into the Indus River has dropped by 40 percent, affecting the cultivation of crops.

He said dams have started gaining their levels slowly and more improvement would be possible ahead soon the snowpack starts melting in the upper parts of the country. He has already claimed that has claimed that the snowpack in the upper parts of the country has shrunk by 10,000 square kilometer (Sqkm) in terms of covered area this year.

It may be noted that the process of snow melting has been slowed down since the end of April, a situation that has led to a hydrological drought due to non-availability of water in dams. This situation may have negative impact on the cotton growing areas in Sindh, the Director apprehended.

According to him, any further delay in snowmelt may cause a drought like situation, as it was happened back in 2004 when agro economy was hit hard by the water scarcity. However, he added in the same breath that chances are high that snowmelt would start by the middle of the month of May. But still, he said, the shrinking of the snowpack would be a challenge to meet water demand of the agriculture sector this year.

When asked, he said, the monsoon season would start by the first week of July. Before it, he said, the maximum temperature may rise up to 47C. According to him, chances of above normal rains during monsoon are being expected this year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022