RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The monsoon is the ‘most’ likely to scale down in September, since receding into a gradual decline to produce less than a normal rainfall in August, the Met Office has said.

The less rainfall in monsoon is feared to give a further rise to the prevailing drought in parts of Sindh and Balochistan, it said, adding that “monsoon systems are likely to weaken gradually during August, producing less than average rainfall”.

It said that less than an average rain is expected to fall in catchments areas of the major rivers that may be ‘a matter of great concern’ especially in Mangla Dam filling. “The El-Niño conditions and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) continue to persist in neutral phase while the Tibetan High is weaker than normal,” the Met added.

In the next 24 hours: Mainly a hot and humid weather is expected in the most parts of the country with an isolated rain-thundershower with gusty winds in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Hazara Divisions, besides Kashmir.

“Seasonal low lies over northwest Balochistan. Weak monsoon currents are penetrating upper parts of the country,” it said.

Similarly, the most parts of Sindh are likely to witness mainly ‘hot to very hot’ and dry weather on Sunday. However, partly cloudy to cloudy weather with chances drizzle is expected along the coast during night and morning hours.

In the past 24 hours: Nokkundi, Dalbandin and Dadu sizzled with 44 degrees Celsius, each, Bhakkar, Rohri, Shaheed Benazirabad and Chillas 43, each, as hot and humid weather gripped the most parts of the country.

Temperature in Karachi is expected to remain up to 34 degrees Celsius with a maximum 80 percent humidity on Sunday and Monday.