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LAHORE: The punishing heatwave baking the plains of the country intensified on Saturday as the meteorological department said temperatures could rise further in the next two to three days.
The country witnessed severe heatwaves over the plain areas of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan in May. But there were some refreshing breaks against the harsh weather mainly in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and upper parts of the country as intervening westerly waves generated mild weather through rain and dust storms.
According to the department, the weather remained very hot and dry in most parts of the country. The most affected was Sindh and adjoining Punjab. It also remained very hot in central and north-eastern Punjab with an average 45 degrees Celsius maximum temperature.
The highest maximum temperature was recorded in Sibi at 50 degrees centigrade. It was followed by Dadu, Noorpurthal, Bhakkar, Larkana and Moenjodaro at 49 degrees centigrade and Jacobabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan at 48 degrees centigrade.
Karachi’s maximum temperature was 40 degrees centigrade that looked mild in contrast to that experienced by cities in the of interior Sindh. But it was more than enough for the Karachiites. Fears of heatstroke lingered over the city but the Met Office hoped the temperatures to lower down to some extent because of a change in the wind direction on Sunday.
Lahore recorded 45 degrees centigrade maximum temperature. Hot winds that continued to blow throughout the day appeared to be adding heat to the fire being thrown down by the sun.
A majority of cities in Punjab maintained the same weather conditions. Jhelum, Sargodha and Sialkot recorded 45 degrees centigrade, Sialkot 45.5, Bahawalpur 46, Dera Ghazi Khan 47, Multan and Faisalabad 46, Gujranwala 43 and Gujrat 42 degrees centigrade.
The Met Office said hot and dry continental air prevailing over most parts of the country would keep weather hot and dry in the next 24 hours.
Very hot weather conditions are expected over the plain areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and upper Sindh, while hot and dry weather is likely to prevail over rest of the country.
Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2017
