KARACHI: An unexpected change in the wind direction during the afternoon raised the temperature to 42 degrees Celsius on Friday. The Meteorological department had forecast high temperature between 37°C to 39°C for the day.

Responding to Dawn’s queries, a Met official said the wind direction changed unexpectedly between noon and 3pm, therefore, hot and dry continental winds from the northwest replaced the cooler and humid sea breeze which pushed the mercury up on the scale.

The wind direction changed again later and the sea breeze once again made inroads into the city, he added.

He said the minimum temperature recorded in the city on Friday was 28°C while the humidity was 65 per cent in the morning and 33pc in the evening.

The weatherman further said the temperature was expected to remain hot and dry on Saturday with the maximum temperature ranging between 37°C and 39°C.

The continental winds from the northwest kept the temperature of the entire province hot on Friday.

Sukkur, Dadu hottest in Sindh

The hottest places in Sindh were Sukkur and Dadu where the maximum temperature recorded was 46.5°C.

Some of the other towns where 40-plus degrees Celsius temperatures were recorded were: Chhor, Larkana, Nawabshah (46°C); Jacobabad, Mithi, Moenjodaro, Padidan, Rohri (45.5°C); Hyderabad (45°C); Badin, Khairpur (44°C); Mirpurkhas (43.5°C); Sakrand (43°C); and Thatta (40.5°C).

The Met official said similar weather was expected to prevail in these cities on Saturday.

Cyclone intensifies

Mekunu, the cyclone which hit the Yemeni island of Socotra on Thursday, has intensified and is now targeting Salalah, the second largest city in Oman.

The cyclone is now about 1,650 kilometres away from the southwest of Karachi and is “unlikely to cause any damage to the city”, a Met department press release issued on Friday said.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2018