KARACHI: Amid looming fears of ‘unprecedented’ heat wave to hit Karachi this summer, a senior met official has revealed that Pakistan has become the hottest place on earth in April when the temperature crossed 50 degrees Celsius in Nawabshah on the last day of April.
According to the Met Office, the temperature in the corresponding month last year was recorded at 49.2 Celsius.
Abdul Rasheed, director of the Met office said on April 30, Nawabshah sizzled at 50.2 Celsius and it was the first time in the history of the country and the world when the temperature touched the 50-degree mark in April.
He said: “The temperature further increased this year and touched 50.2 Celsius mark on April 30. The city has a history of being warm and humid in the summer, but being so hot in April is a little unusual. The weather remains extreme in May and temperature starts declining in June,” he said.
According to Washington Times report, Nawabshah soared to 122.4 degrees (50.2 Celsius). This might just be the highest temperature ever reliably measured on the planet during April.
The temperature was observed in the city which has a population of 1.1 million and is about 120 miles from the Indian Ocean. Etienne Kapikian, a meteorologist at Meteo France, the French national meteorological service posted the observation on Twitter.
This is the second straight month in which Nawabshah has set a new monthly temperature record for Pakistan. In late March, a heat wave pushed the temperature there to a national record of 113.9 degrees for the month. Several other countries in Asia also established March record highs during the hot spell from the 29th to the 31st.
April’s heat wave, coming just 30 days later, resulted from a sprawling heat dome centered over the northern Indian Ocean.
The Met Office explained that in May 2017, Turbat sizzled at 54 Celsius, but obviously April had never experienced such scorching sun.
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