Like the British, Jawad Memon loves talking about the weather. And others like to listen to him. They have also started believing him, especially when the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) lets them down.

In strong winds, heavy downpours, fierce thunderstorms, and especially when these intense conditions result in power failures and the flooding of roads, Memon comes across as their knight in shining armour with his visual updates on Facebook, YouTube and television channels.

There he discusses the low pressure systems of the monsoon, explaining how a system, which probably originated from the Bay of Bengal, travelled West, towards India and how it could follow the track of former two systems and move with a tilt to the south to hit Sindh. And just when you are about to run for cover, he tells you to wait because there are several factors which matter here and which need to be observed over the next few days, such as the wind levels effect, etc. The date and time predictions are also incredibly accurate.

He is not a trained meteorologist but he’s built a loyal following on social media for accurately predicting the weather

But Jawad is not a trained meteorologist. He is a businessman. “I sell surveillance cameras and closed-circuit television systems. I started my own company a few years ago. Observing and forecasting the weather is just a hobby,” he says.

When asked why the hobby, which is making him famous, couldn’t have become his profession, Jawad says that everyone in his family is inclined towards business and he was also expected to follow in their footsteps. “What to do? I am a Memon bacha [kid]. It was expected of me,” he chuckles. “I often get taunts from my father for studying satellite maps on my laptop or being busy with some weather app on my phone — though after witnessing my fan following he has backed off to some extent now,” he adds.

Sharing how his hobby developed, he says, “Observing the weather was always an interesting pastime for me. Then in 2007, I got broadband internet while I was studying accounting. It was primarily for my studies but it also gave me access to weather prediction tools.

“I also joined a forum where members discussed various things. One day in 2008 or 2009, when there was heavy rainfall, someone on the forum was worrying about losing his internet connection because of the downpour, and I told him to brace himself for worse weather in the next one or two hours,” he says. “I was right and everyone there noticed. Suddenly I had more people asking me. This was where my weather forecast train left the station, so to speak. Where it will lead me, I myself am not sure right now,” he adds laughing.

Gradually, with more innovations in weather predicting instruments, tools and apps, Memon was able to sharpen his skills further. “All that combined with ground conditions, my own interest and good old gut feeling really helps,” he smiles.

“The weather radar used by PMD sent its last picture on 11.20am on November 27, 2017. It was an old piece of equipment, around 25 to 30 years old,” he says. “For weather forecasts, we now depend on international radars. But we are hearing that a new Japanese radar may be installed in Karachi by the end of the year because there is nothing better than having an on-ground radar,” he says.

“For predicting weather, I use some of the same tools as our meteorological department. But there are also privileges which they alone enjoy. For instance, there is the World Meteorological Organisation, which I can’t reach as they only share their data with the country’s official meteorological department. PMD also has people who are more qualified than me,” he says.

But when it comes to weather, private news channels, FM radio stations as well as social media all look to him. “Yes, because of that I am the cause of much stress and tension for PMD. But the channels and radio stations say that when they need to approach the officials they can never reach them while I am quite accessible — not to mention, more accurate, too,” he laughs.

In strong winds, heavy downpours, fierce thunderstorms, especially when these intense conditions result in power failures and flooding of roads, Memon comes across as their knight in shining armour with his visual updates on Facebook, YouTube and television channels.

So how is he more accurate? What tools does he use? “Well, I have my own little weather station at home which runs on solar energy and which I have installed just outside my window at home in Zamzama. It has sensors to show me things such as atmospheric pressure, wind direction, temperature, humidity, ultraviolet light, etc. It also has a rain gauge. When I acquired my first such weather station three years ago from the US, it cost me around 50,000 rupees. That one I have now sold off to a friend in Keamari as I have a more advanced station now. Meanwhile, my friend shares weather data from Keamari with me.

“Anyone who has proper internet to be able to transfer on-line data, knowledge and interest can install such stations,” he says.

“As far as I know, PMD has 12 weather stations across Karachi but none in Defence Housing Authority or Clifton, and the ones they have are all manual systems. So recently, when they were saying that there was 10 millimetres of rain, I was getting 70mm on my system,” he smiles, shaking his head.

After his Facebook group ‘Karachi Doppler’ and page ‘Weather Updates PK’, Jawad has also now launched his YouTube channel ‘Pakistan Doppler’, which gets many views as soon as an update is uploaded. It has 2,800 followers. Jawad hopes that after his following increases, he is able to make an earning there. He will use the money to set up little weather stations all over the city. “Here everyone waits for rain. Then when it does rain, they ask when will it stop? My YouTube channel addresses all your queries regarding the current weather,” he says.

Jawad is also known to give unique names to storms and systems. “Yes, I started doing that only this year to tell one apart from the other so that people didn’t get confused. Thus, there was Tempest 01 or Tempest 02, 03 and so on. I had no idea then that that will be such a hit. Now the media also refers to a weather condition with the name given to it by me,” he says.

“Naming hurricanes or tropical storms is very common in the West, especially in the US. For instance, there is Hurricane Dorian, named after a meteorologist in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There they usually name storms after the person who is following it. But out here, I do not think I will appreciate a storm being named after me,” he laughs. “‘Jawad Toofan’ doesn’t sound so cool!”

The writer is a member of staff
She tweets @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 15th, 2019