For the outside world, geopolitical rivalries and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continued friction with neighboring Pakistan may be the most talked about factors behind rising political temperatures in South Asia.
But weather experts say India may experience a late arrival of Monsoon season this year, which means Pakistan will also have a delayed onset of the rains. The Monsoon rains bring relief to scotched parts of South Asia, and joy to hundreds of millions living in sunbaked cities and plains.
Already plains in Sindh and Punjab provinces are having above 40 degree centigrade temperatures. On Thursday, mercury in Punjab’s Lahore metropolis surged to 44 degrees Celsius.
Pakistan may be bracing for intense heatwave during the next couple of weeks, according to country’s meteorological department.
Both India and Pakistan suffered from unusually intense heatwaves in the last few years, leading to deaths and domestic political blame games around shortage of electricity and poor governance. The two countries have also been hit by floods for many years,
South Asia hit by floods in 2007
Photo Credit: Anameofmyveryown via Wikimedia Commons
“We are not expecting any rain producing system during the current week; During Eid holidays too, weather is likely to be hot and dry over most of the country,” Director Regional Meteorological, Lahore, Mian Ajmal Shad says.
However, there may be dust-raising winds during this period that could bring down temperatures slightly.
In Pakistan, the meteorologists believes, monsoon season will likely kick off during the first week of July.
But, according to an Accuweatherdotcom report, this is a year of a delayed start of the seasonal monsoon, that may cause intense heatwave over a large part of India and Pakistan in the coming weeks.
While the heat has come in pulses so far this year, the current heat wave is forecast to last well into June.
Sizzling temperatures over Pakistan and India on Monday, in Celsius. (ogimet.com via @EKMeteo on Twitter)
The mercury will shoot past 40 C (104 F) across central and northern India each day, with widespread high temperatures of 42-46 C (108-115 F). Locations that will endure daily dangerous heat include Hyderabad, Nagpur, Patna, Indore, Lucknow and New Delhi.
Extremely dangerous heat is expected across northwest India this weekend, including New Delhi and the National Capital Region where high temperatures may reach 48 C (118 F).
The heat will also spread northwest into much of Pakistan and southern Afghanistan, affecting Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Hyderabad, Accuweather reported.
Karachi may also endure bouts of heat during this time, but the city will avoid the most extreme conditions. The daily high temperatures of 36-40 C (97-104 F) are forecast into this weekend. A couple of years ago, many citizens died in Karachi as heatwave made life miserable as people lived without fans and cooling systems due to power shortage
The heat is not expected to break anytime soon as dry weather prevails and monsoon rainfall is still far away for northern India and Pakistan.
