Extremely hot and humid but dry weather continues affecting most parts of Pakistan even in mid-September after scanty rains in August and best half of the current month helped temperatures rise well-above average.
In fact, today (September 14) is the last day of Bhadon – one of the months of seasons-based local calendar followed in the Subcontinent – which marks not only the end of monsoon season but also summers.
But the global warming or climate change is changing everything as the 2023 has proved to the hottest year on record with different parts of the world experiencing extreme weather events - record-high temperatures, droughts, heavy and intense rains, floods, wildfires and hurricanes from the UK and Brazil to Libya, China and other parts of Southeast Asia.
In local folklore, Assu – the month following Bhadon which starts on September 15 (Friday) – represents the birth of winters with cooler nights and a sufficient drop in highs as well. However, there is no sign of any change yet.
However, there may be some respite in the shape of rains due to the monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal and a westerly whose convergence may also trigger heavy downpours, depending upon the relative strength of the two systems moving in from opposite directions and converging over upper half of Pakistan.
Despite the notoriously wrong weather prediction in recent years, the current unbearable hot and humid weather makes to believe in the words of Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) which says the simultaneous effects of the two weather systems will bring rain and thunderstorm with wind in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Islamabad, and upper parts of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab from September 15 to 20 with occasional gaps.
At the same time, some areas may also experience localised heavy rainfall during the same period, which can produce increased water flow in the streams of Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Rawalpindi and Islamabad while also triggering landslides in the vulnerable areas.