LAHORE: Monsoon rains far below average - 'Little chance' of another wet spell
By Intikhab Hanif
LAHORE, Sept 2: The country has received dismally low rain during the present monsoon even in areas directly falling in the path of its currents, and chances of any makeup for the shortfall during the remaining part of the season appear remote.
According to the schedule of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the season begins on July 1 and lasts till Sept 30. But the monsoon moisture supply from the Bay of Bengal suspended last week and from the Arabian Sea on Thursday.
A westerly wave nevertheless gave rain in the NWFP, the Northern Areas and some parts of the Punjab on Thursday, besides having a cooling effect at night in the region up to Lahore.
Many cities received below-normal rain in July and August. July had little rain because of the breaking of the monsoon cycle by pre-monsoon rains from June 15 to 30. August saw rain, heavy at many places, but it could not make up for the shortfall in July.
Again the catchments of the rivers received less rain than their average for the season. As a result almost all the rivers had below-flood level flow almost throughout the season, bringing insufficient supplies to the dams for storage.
In contrast, plains in different parts of the country, including southern Punjab and Sindh, received rain which in majority cases was insufficient. In July only Sialkot and Saidu Sharif received above-normal rains and in August only Bahawalpur, Jhelum, Multan, Kotli and Parachinar.
Following is the data of rain in the country in July and August which was obtained from the Lahore Flood Forecasting Division. The normal rainfall of the major cities is in brackets.
PUNJAB -JULY: Bahawalnagar 1mm (81.2mm), Bahawalpur zero (52.6mm), Faisalabad 5mm (115mm), Islamabad Airport 128mm (267mm) and Zero Point 148mm (267mm), Jhelum 117mm (237.3mm), Khanpur zero (27.5mm), Lahore Airport 132mm (217.8mm) and Jail Road 144mm (202.1mm), Multan 6mm (61.3mm), Murree 164mm (339.9mm), Sialkot 363 (292.9mm).
Sargodha 102mm, Mianwali 41mm, Rahwali 42mm, Shorkot zero, Dera Ghazi Khan 20mm and Jhang zero. The normal rainfall of these cities was not available.
AUGUST: Bahawalnagar zero (34.3mm), Bahawalpur 152 (43.2mm), Faisalabad 72mm (89.8mm), Islamabad Airport 308mm (309.9mm) and Zero Point 298mm (309.9mm), Jhelum 345mm (221.2mm), Khanpur 2mm (23mm), Lahore Airport 72mm (173.5mm) and Jail Road 144mm (163.9mm), Multan 108mm( 32.8mm), Murree 247mm (326.3mm), Sialkot 204mm ( 259.1mm).
Sargodha 95mm, Mianwali 68mm, Rahwali 157mm, Shorkot 60mm, Dera Ghazi Khan 62mm and Jhang 136mm. The average rainfall of these cities was not available.
Risalpur 83mm, Kamra 206mm, Kohat 45mm, Kalam 25mm and Malamjabba 198mm. Their average rain was not available.
SINDH- JULY: Only Karachi received 2mm of rain as against its average of 85.5mm. The average rainfall of Badin is 70.5mm, Chhor 79mm, Hyderabad 56.7mm, Jacobabad 36.8mm, Nawabshah 51.8mm, Padidan 41.7mm and Sukkur 25.7mm.
AUGUST: Only Chhor received 31mm of rain, Hyderabad 17mm, Karachi 8mm, Nawabshah 3mm and Padidan 13mm as against their average of 74.5mm, 60.8mm, 67.4mm, 45.4mm, and 30.7mm respectively.
AZAD KASHMIR AND NORTHERN AREAS -JULY: Astore 19mm (21mm), Bunji 49mm (14.5mm), Garhi Dupatta 16mm (275.8mm), Gilgit 4mm (15.6mm), Kotli 192mm (325mm). Rawlakot received 117mm of rain but its average rainfall was not available.
AUGUST: Astore 23.5mm, Bunji 18.4mm, Chillas 3mm (12.5mm), Garhi Dupatta 39mm (253.5mm), Gilgit 9mm (15.5mm), Kotli 324mm (290mm), Muzaffarabad 285mm (249.2mm). Rawlakot received 267mm of rain but its average rainfall was not available.
BALOCHISTAN - JULY: Barkhan 16mm (100.2mm), Jiwani 1mm (7.7mm), Kalat zero (12.4mm), Khuzdar 19mm (44.7mm), Ormara zero (26.3mm), Panjgur 1mm (5.9mm), Quetta zero (12.7mm), Sibbi zero (35.6mm) and Zhob 48.5mm).
AUGUST: Barkhan 69 (87mm), Jiwani zero (3.6mm), Kalat zero (9.8mm), Khuzdar 23mm (56.9mm), Ormara zero (11.6mm), Panjgur zero (9.2mm), Quetta zero (12.1mm), Sibbi zero (30.3mm) and Zhob 11mm (58.9mm).
