Pakistan Sizzles: Sibi to reach record temp on Friday?

Posted on June 12, 2007
Filed Under >Owais Mughal, Environment
17 Comments
Total Views: 30549

Owais Mughal

Pakistan is sizzling these days. Not just in political terms but literally.

The image aboce is from MSN weather site. Note the pinkish spots on most of the Punjab and Sindh-Baluchistan-Punjab border area. This color shows temperatures in excess of 45C (113F).

Large parts of the country are reporting daily temperatures in excess of 40C. Numerous lives have been unfortunately lost due to this heat wave in both Pakistan and India. As of June 12, Dawn newspaper is reporting 47 people have lost their lives in Pakistan. Today a friend forwarded me an email drawing my attention to 5-day weather forecast for Sibi. According to CNN weather website, temperature in Sibi Pakistan is going to hit 57C (or 134F) on Friday June 15, 2007. The forecast can be seen here.

I also consulted MSN‘s weather forecast and their website predicts a 47C (116F) for Sibi on Thursday. MSN’s forecast is here. There is a 10C difference in CNN and MSN weather forecast. Now whether CNN’s or MSN ‘s forecast holds true on friday, the point is that it is going to be very hot. Let us hope that WAPDA keeps electricity flowing, water utility keeps water flowing and there be no heat strokes. Just three days ago on June 9, 2007; 51C (124F) was recorded in Sibi.

After reading the above forecsast I went looking for temperature records. It looks like the world record of highest recorded temperature is 58C (136F) recorded on Sept 13, 1922 in Al Azizia, Libya. Asian record of highest recorded temperature is 54C (127F) recorded on June 21, 1942 in Tirat Tsvi. If CNNs forecast holds true then this infamous Asian record will come Pakistan’s way as early as tomorrow. Did I hear somebody say global warming?

According to CNN Weather, following is the forecast for major Pakistani cities for June 12, 2007: Sibi 54C (129F), Peshawar 53C (127F), Lahore 51C (124F), Sargodha 49C (120F), Faisalabad and Multan 48C (118F), Nawabshah 47C (116F), Islamabad 45C (113F) and Karachi 36C (96F).

References:

(1) Hottest temperature on Earth

(2) Photo of Sibi Jn is courtesy of Omar Marwat.

17 responses to “Pakistan Sizzles: Sibi to reach record temp on Friday?”

  1. ahsan says:

    [quote]Off topic, but I could not help admiring the simple but soft and pleasing architecture of the Sibi railway station. Obviously, it is a pre-Partition structure. And also, one can’t help noticing the totally unnecessary and avoidable post-Partition additions to the building. The electric cables etc.[/quote]

    Dear MQ,

    I looked into the picture and I am sure that you are not simply aiming at the Electric Cables. On the top of the building there is a long tablet with some Arabic inscription which looks rather odd at the Raliway Station. I suppose it is some extra addition, in the later days of the Islamic movements, and it is to give the Station an Islamic credential.

    It reminds me the recent event in France that an Artist wanted to paint the highest peak of “Mont-Blanc” red to make it an Art Object. Luckily he was not allowed to do so by civil authorities.

    I suppose in the case of Sibi Railway Station this particular addition is not in the name of Art or Architeture but in the name of Allaah and no body can dare to remove it.

    Thus, my dear MQ, all you can do is “Look at it and admire” and repeat the kalamah.

    Ahsan

  2. Faraz says:

    Brutal heat! I lived in Phoenix for a few years where temperatures in upper 110s (47 C) are pretty common and the summers were quite painful. But 57 C is just mind-boggling.

    I think the biggest problem for Pakistan, as an agricultural country, will not be so much the temperatures themselves, but the dried up rivers. Once the glaciers in Afghanistan and Kashmir have melted away, will our rivers dry up? Or will climate change bring increased rainfall compensating for the shrinking glaciers?

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