LAHORE: The year 2022 has witnessed some unusual weather phenomenon, not recorded earlier in the meteorological history of the country, said Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) sources.

They said the present year has not witnessed spring season and the summer season set in by the middle of February. In normal weather pattern, the month of February and March are taken as spring season in Pakistan at the end of winter and before the beginning of summer season.

Another interesting development took place this year when 22nd of June was recorded as the coldest day in the recorded meteorological history of the country. The temperature had dropped to 22 degree Celsius unusually on this day this year, they added.

The third unprecedented development was five to six occurrences of heatwave in between the month of April to the month of May this year and the country witnessed unusual dryness while the humidity level had dropped to 10 percent. This situation resulted into wildfires in various parts of the country, mainly due to friction of the leaves of forest plants for the first time in the recorded meteorological history of the country.

About five to six events of Glacier Lake Outburst Forecast (GLOF) also occurred during 2022 with rise in temperatures leading to fast melting, heavy overflows of water and ultimately sliding of glaciers in the northern areas of the country, said the sources. According to them, dismal riparian flows also led Tarbela dam to witness dead levels for a total of 110 days, which was again unusual in the past. Normally, the maximum duration has never crossed 102 days in the past. However, once attained the conservation level, Tarbela is witnessing no change over the last 39 days, which was not more than 33 days in the past.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022