ISLAMABAD: The Met Office has issued a nationwide warning against strong rainstorms in the coming days and relevant authorities have also been alerted.

The deputy commissioner Islamabad has issued a red alert in the Islamabad district and the Capital Development Authority has banned boating and sporting activities in Rawal Lake for the time.

Satellite images of the region show that strong monsoon currents carrying dense clouds entered the south of Punjab and the eastern districts of Sindh via India.

The Met Office has said that rains following thunder and windstorms with isolated heavy rains are expected at various places in lower Sindh, especially in Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas divisions in the south by Tuesday evening.

Monsoon currents redirected by Himalayas eventually feed rain in Islamabad, AJK

The clouds are also expected to bring isolated heavy showers in northern Punjab including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore and Kashmir.

Light and moderate rains are accompanied with dust storms are expected in scattered places in Karachi, Hazara, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, DG Khan, Kalat, Zhob, Makran, Sibbi, Naseerabad, Sukkur and Sh Benazirabad divisions. Satellite images on the Met Office’s website show the formation of heavy monsoon clouds over the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Monsoon currents are moving rapidly from the Bay of Bengal towards the west and northwest, while another pattern of clouds from the Arabian Sea is moving towards Sindh after entering into the Indian states of Gujrat and Maharashtra.

However, due to intense heat in the plains of northern India and Punjab in both India and Pakistan, moist high pressure winds travel towards these low pressure areas.

“High heat develops low pressure areas because hot areas rises and creates a vacuum like situation which invites winds from cool or moist regions,” an official of the Met Office explained.

As most of the monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal go to Northern India and parts of Pakistan, these high speed winds eventually hit the Himalayas and other mountains in Southern Kashmir. After hitting the mountains, the currents become weaker and drop towards the galiyat and Islamabad.

“A weak westerly wave has been located over the north of the country which is preventing monsoon currents from going further west, resulting in rains in the galiyat and Islamabad,” the official said.

“Due to urbanisation and climate change, the frequency of rainfall in Rawalpindi and Islamabad has decreased but it is feared that the rains will be more intense leading to flash floods and urban flooding,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2016