Karachi likely to receive first heavy rain of monsoon on July 28 to 30

KARACHI: A weather system to enter in Sindh on July 27 from the east, will bring widespread rains in Karachi and other parts of Sindh, weather officials said in a forecast.

Karachi will likely to receive first heavy rain of this monsoon between July 28 to 30, weather department said.

The city today experiencing mainly cloudy and windy weather with chances of light rain or drizzle, a weather forecast said.

Strong monsoon currents from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are likely to enter in upper parts of the country on Wednesday weather department said.

The monsoon currents bringing widespread rains, likely to spread central and southern parts of Pakistan from Thursday to Saturday, weather forecast further said.

Pakistan Meteorological Department yesterday said the monsoon rains were likely to start in Sindh, including Karachi, by the end of the ongoing week, adding that the weather system developing in the Bay of Bengal could cause rains in the province from July 28 to 31.

“A low pressure area is being formed in the Bay of Bengal and we are expecting it to move towards Sindh in the days to come. We will be able to make a more accurate forecast after next 24-36 hours but at the moment, we are expecting some rains in the province by the end of the current week or by the start of next week,” a weather official quoted as saying.

Weather experts said despite the onset of monsoon season in Pakistan from July 15 and some good showers in the upper areas of the country, Pakistan was still facing rain deficits with Sindh facing a monsoon rain deficit of over 80 per cent, they were, however, expecting August to be a rainy month.

PMD officials were keeping a close eye over monsoon patterns and heavy and extremely heavy rains alert had already been issued for upper areas of the country which could cause flood-like situation in the rivers.

According to the existing models, Sindh was expected to receive slightly less than normal monsoon rains this season, however possibility of some heavy rain spells in different cities of the province, could create problems for general public and authorities could not be ruled out.

Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani has directed the officials concerned to be fully prepared to perform their duties to meet the challenges of rain emergency. He asked the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) and other concerned departments to implement a contingency plan and accelerate cleanliness and desilting of all nullahs prior to the monsoon season.