What is the Weather in Pakistan Like?

Adil Najam

If you put this question – What is the Weather in Pakistan Like? – into Google Search, the top hit you get is a site called Answers.com and their answers is: “The weather in Pakistan is very hot especially in the summer but as it comes to September to about December it’s like living in the north pole!!” Maybe you have a better answer. If you do not, these interesting graphics from WeatherSpark.com might help.

Average and Recent (2010) Weather in Islamabad

Being the weather geek that I am, I have enjoyed exploring the weather patterns for various parts of Pakistan at this very interesting site Here I am sharing screen-shots of the average and recent (for 2010) weather in the Federal Capital and four major cities of Pakistan – Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta. (I use the 2010 calendar year rather than up to this year so that the weather cycle is more clear in annual terms we are familiar with; click on image to go to the city’s site).

Average and Recent (2010) Weather in Karachi

Average and Recent (2010) Weather in Lahore

Average and Recent (2010) Weather in Peshawar

Recent (2010) Weather in Quetta

Reading these have to be done carefully (remember, we are dealing with averages as well as extremes of the weather each day and that adds up to ‘climate’ and the ‘feel’ we live through in more complex ways than simple charts can convey. But I do think these charts do convey a better idea that Answers.com did. And, more importantly, it also throws up some surprises. The thanda ilaqas we are familiar with can have some pretty garam days, and vice versa.

I am not fully sure how reliable all the readings are, especially for Quetta since the website did not have the average readings for Quetta and seemed to be linking the readings to Kandahar airport in Afghanistan (I know we have pretty reliable readings for Quetta that go quite far back in time so am assuming this is a quirk in the website). Also, please note that ‘Precipitation type’ refers to period of rainfall (and intensity is also conveyed), and not just amount of rainfall in milimeters. This, I think, is an interesting measure. As is hours of sunlight, and the ColorTemp band, which may be the most useful part of these for a quick reading.

I am still exploring these figures and hope you will too. I am sure we can give internet surfers a better notion of what the weather in Pakistan really like than Answers.com could!