Pakistan Sizzles: Sibi to reach record temp on Friday?

Posted on June 12, 2007
Filed Under >Owais Mughal, Environment
17 Comments
Total Views: 30576

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. Aqil Sajjad says:

    On a tangent, one problem is that a lot of our construction these days is not designed to have proper ventillation and good insulation. This is partly due to electricity, we no longer feel the need to pay attention to these things because we can just turn on our fans and air conditioners.
    But this is not a positive trend, we should promote construction that is taylored according to our weather requirements so that we rely less on electricity and other forms of energy to keep the temperature in our houses/buildings in a comfortable range.

  2. Jamil says:

    There are many hot things in the world among them a hot clinic in Lahore. http://WWW.CIDPUSA.ORG

  3. cam says:

    are these high temps are a result of global warming……..

  4. Moeen Bhatti says:

    Just think about load-shedding in these temps…no fan, no AC, no light…and the dictator’s gov. insists that Pakistan is getting richer…hahaha…what a joke??
    Tina: I think global warming will have worst affect on Pak. due to many reasons. Forest/trees life is getting worse; those of you who had been visitng Murree and Abbottabad in their childhood might have witnessed that. There is no proper way of disposing off trash; atleast I know in LHR, they burn it on the streets. And everyone knows about the emission regulations in public transport in Pak, esp riksaas, wagons etc. So in many ways, we are responsible for this climate!!

  5. tina says:

    This is just terrible heat. And some people will find that they must be out working in it. If global warming is true I wonder if most of Pakistan will remain one of the habitable places on Earth? Certainly much of the African Sahel will become deserted (in more ways than one).

    Any thoughts on how climate change will be affecting Pakistan? As the glaciers melt, meaning less water, and the temperatures increase? Not a pretty picture anywhere but specially grim for Pakistan!

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