ISLAMABAD: The extremely hot weather has invited the moisture-laden monsoon spell from the east and rainfall is expected in northern parts of the county, including Islamabad, on Friday.

The federal capital on Thursday sizzled with the temperature reaching 43 degrees Celsius and crossing the 40 degrees mark for the third straight day. The highest temperature of 45 degrees in Islamabad was recorded in July 2012.

The temperature was much higher in central Punjab - 46 degrees in Sargodha and 44 degrees in Faisalabad 44 - on Thursday which invited the first wave of moisture bearing clouds from the Bay of Bengal via central and northern India.

The monsoon season has already commenced in India and heavy rainfall has been witnessed in Mumbai and in the eastern coastal region.

According to Met Office, a seasonal low lies over northern Balochistan with its trough extending northeastwards. As a result, weak moist currents are penetrating into northeastern parts of the country which would strengthen in the coming days.

Weak to moderate monsoon currents penetrating into the northeastern parts of the country have already brought rainfall in central Punjab, including Lahore.

The Met Office said under the influence of this weather system, rain-dust/thunderstorm associated with strong gusty winds were expected at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad divisions, Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan from Thursday to Sunday.

The monsoon rainfall in Pakistan starts in July and ends in the last week of September.

The Met Office predicted that the country is likely to receive normal monsoon rainfall this year.

“Most of the global models are indicating weak El-Nino conditions over Pacific Ocean and positive phase of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD),” the Met Office said.

“Keeping in view global and regional atmospheric circulations the monsoon weather outlook for the year 2019 is normal to above normal rainfall in upper half of Pakistan due to strong incursion of monsoon currents and their interaction with westerly weather system.”

However, it cautioned that an extreme weather during the period may cause flooding in the rivers and adjoining tributaries.

On the other hand, moderate and below normal rainfall is expected in Sindh and Balochistan while the average temperature is likely to remain two to three degrees above normal in the plain areas of the country.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2019