The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast chances of rain and thunderstorms in Karachi on Thursday, as well as other areas of Sindh from April 2-4, as a result of a new westerly wave from Balochistan.

A westerly wave is likely to approach the southwestern parts of Balochistan on April 1 and likely to persist till April 4, the Met Office said in its daily weather outlook issued on Tuesday.

In its three-day weather forecast, it said that Tuesday and Wednesday would both bring partly cloudy weather in the Karachi division. The maximum temperature on Tuesday is expected to be between 29 and 31 degrees Celsius, with a minimum temperature of 22.7°C. The humidity is forecast to reach 54 per cent in the daytime, remaining around 40-50pc in the evening. A west/southwesterly wind is expected to prevail.

Wednesday’s temperatures will reach highs of 30-32°C and lows of 22-24°C, according to the forecast. While the evening humidity is similar to Tuesday, a higher daytime humidity of 65-75pc is predicted, alongside a northwesterly wind turning west/southwesterly.

On Thursday, the PMD predicted the weather to be “mostly cloudy with chances of wind [and] thunderstorms [or] rain with isolated heavy falls”. Temperatures will dip slightly, seeing highs of 28-30°C and lows of 20-22°C. The humidity will reach 70-80pc in the daytime, dropping to 50-60pc in the evening, while a west/southwesterly wind will prevail.

Under the influence of the westerly wave, the PMD has also forecast wind, thunderstorms or rain “with a few moderate to isolated heavy falls” and isolated hailstorms in the Jamshoro, Dadu, Larkana, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Kambar Shahdadkot, Sukkur, Khairpur, Naushero Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Hyderabad, Tando Allayar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari, Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts of Sindh from April 2-4, “with occasional gaps”.

It warned that windstorms, hailstorms and lightning may damage weak structures as well as standing crops, advising farmers to manage their crops according to the prevailing weather conditions.

“Daytime temperatures are likely to decrease during the forecast period,” it added.

In a previous weather forecast on Monday, the PMD said that due to a westerly wave approaching the “southerwestern parts of Balochistan from April 1”, parts of the country will receive “widespread rain-wind/thunderstorm” in the coming days.

Before that, it had forecast cloudy weather with chances of light rain in Karachi over the weekend, as well as rain in other parts of Sindh on March 29 and 30.