ISLAMABAD: The mercury surged to 42°C in Islamabad on Friday noon but it felt like around 46°C due to low humidity and negligible wind.

The wind speed during the day was limited to mere two kilometres per hour but the southeast direction of the wind aggravated the rise in temperature.

The temperature of air currents coming from the plains of Punjab were much higher as the mercury level was 46°C in Lahore, 45°C in Faisalabad and Multan.

At the same time, the winds were cooling the night over the federal capital and the adjoining region because they were coming from the north. The shallow airstream from the cool areas of northwest started to fill the gap.

Due to the swirl towards the north the minimum temperature drops to as low as 19°C making the nights cooler.

The conditions are likely to remain similar in most of the country and the maximum temperature in Islamabad is expected to be over 40°C on Saturday.

However, the shallow westerly wave present over upper parts of the country can trigger dust-thunderstorm and isolated rain in Malakand, Hazara, Kohat, Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi divisions, Islamabad and Kashmir.

Other areas of the country will remain hot and dry while very hot in eastern Balochistan, Sindh, plain areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The highest temperature in the country was 50°C in Jaccobabad and Larkana followed by 49°C in Dadu and 48°C in Sukkur, Moenjodaro, Noorpur Thal, R.Y. Khan and Bahawalnagar.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2019