LAHORE: Summer started attaining severity in the country on Tuesday as temperatures shot up to intolerable levels, especially in Sindh and south Punjab.

Larkana recorded a maximum temperature of 51 degrees Celsius, Moenjodaro and Jacobabad 50, Sibi, Sukkur, Rahim Yar Khan and Shaheed Benazirabad 49, and Hyderabad 47 degrees.

The maximum temperature in Lahore was 44 degrees. It was 45 degrees in Multan and 43 degrees in Faisalabad.

Hot winds continued to blow throughout the day. The blazing sun forced people to stay indoors. Those who could not afford the luxury, especially among the elderly and the schoolchildren, found the weather to be highly inconvenient.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department warned that the “very hot and dry weather” would continue throughout the week across the country. In the agricultural plains of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh the day temperatures would top 45 degrees and in central parts of the country mercury would touch critical level of 50°C.

It said temperatures in mountainous areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir had also started rising by four to five degrees above their average, resulting in rapid melting of snow and glaciers.

The department, however, said that due to the sea breeze, the coastal areas of Pakistan would not experience any sharp rise in temperature. Day temperatures in Karachi would generally remain below 40 degrees, and wind would continue blowing from sea with variable speed and with a comfortable level of humidity.

Keeping in view the intense heat and dry weather, the public should take care of heat stroke and dehydration as advised by health authorities, the Met department said.

Bhagwandas adds from Karachi: Most parts of Sindh experienced extremely hot weather on Tuesday.

While the sea breeze blowing in Karachi kept the mercury relatively lower on the scale but people felt the heat effect due to a high amount of moisture in the air.

A Met official said that the low pressure area over the northern part of Sindh and its adjoining areas pulled in the hot continental air, which turned the weather very hot in most parts of the province, including Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions.

However, he said, owing to the continuous influx of the sea breeze the coastal areas of Sindh, including its capital Karachi, would not experience any sharp rise in temperature over the next few days. Temperature during the day would generally remain below 40 degrees Celsius in the metropolis, he added.

The weatherman said the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded in the city on Tuesday were 38 and 29 degrees Celsius, respectively. Humidity — amount of moisture in the air — was 51 per cent, he added.

On Wednesday, the weather is expected to be hot and humid in the city. The maximum temperature is likely to remain between 37 and 39 degrees Celsius, according to the Met official.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2016