Weather Locations in Pakistan

Pakistan Weather Overview

Bordered by three distinctive countries; India, Afghanistan and Iran; Pakistan enjoys both temperate and humid coastal climates. The typical weather of Pakistan has very high regional contrasts, with the inland and highland areas experiencing much cooler and temperate weather, whereas the coastal areas are on the border of humid sub-tropical.

Given that Pakistan is classically situated in the temperate zone, the climate however is relatively arid; categorised by hot summer and cool to cold winters. There are also extensive differences of both temperature and rainfall at many given localities throughout the country. The average precipitation however does generally begin to decrease in the northern areas. Nevertheless, these simplifications shouldn’t in comprehend the discrete variations subsisting between particular areas. The coastal regions alongside the Arabian Sea, for instance, is generally warm and humid, where, the icy snow-enclosed edges of the Karakoram districts and all other mountainous areas in the northern areas are only reachable by first-class climbers for a minimal of three weeks in May and June every year due to the freezing cold temperatures that are present all year round.

The climate in Pakistan is also very diverse due to the difference in elevation from the south to the north. From April to September; throughout the summer months, the highland regions in the north are very temperate and enjoyable, while the Indus Valley and Coastal regions commonly feature high temperatures of a scorching 40ºC or more. In the cooler season during the months of October to March the coastal regions experience frequent monsoons while the nearby inland and lowland areas cool down seeing temperatures anywhere between 10ºC to 25ºC. However the northern mountainous regions up north tend to become very cold and icy when air climates drop well below freezing point.

Islamabad; Pakistan’s capital city, has a diverse climate that experiences average daily low temperatures of 2ºC in the month of January and average daily highs of 40ºC in June. Over half of the yearly rainfall transpires throughout July and August averaging a total of approximately 510mm during the two months. The remaining ten months of the year feature considerably minimal rain equalling to about 40mm per month. Hailstorms in Islamabad however, take place quite frequently throughout all months of the springtime.

On the other hand, Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, also being the country’s industrial core, features climates that are more hot and humid than Islamabad but also feature less rainfall. A very small 25mm of rain falls in the Karachi area throughout the months of July and August; whereas the ten remaining months are also extensively dry. The typical climate however, experiences temperatures varying from average daily lows of 13ºC throughout the wintertime to average daily highs of 34ºC during the day in the summer. Even though the summer climates of Karachi are not as high as those in Punjab and Islamabad; the relative humidity yet is extremely high creating average temperatures to feel even higher.

Precipitation

Even though Pakistan is situated in the monsoon region, and the coastal areas do experience typical monsoon seasons, the country is generally arid in most regions, in exception for the southern slope areas of the Himalayas and other mountainous tracks which feature average annual rainfall anywhere between 760mm to 1270mm. Balochistan; situated inland to the south of Afghanistan, is the driest area of Pakistan with yearly average rainfall of 210mm. The southern districts of the highlands features 1270mm of average rainfall per year, where just below the lee of the Himalayas precipitation is barely existent, with a mere 160mm per year. Rainfall is also common throughout the western cyclonic regions that begin in the Mediterranean. Noticeably in the western mountains and the nearby lowland regions; the average rainfall on a yearly basis ranges from 270mm to 760mm. A vast amount of precipitation experienced in the northern highland region is in the form of snow, which highly feeds the lakes and rivers. The overall aridity over the majority of the Pakistani area has a prime authority on the life and habitat of its residents, paired with the climatic regularity, common features of the monsoon climate are favourable to the homogeneity of the environment.

There are four distinct seasons throughout the area of Pakistan; from December through to February a cool, dry winter takes place, from March until May a hot, dry spring is featured, from June until September experiences the rainy summer season, or southwest monsoon season, and throughout October and November the retreating monsoon season takes place. The commencement and extent of these seasons however fluctuate minimally in accordance to locality.

Cool, Dry Season (winter)

This season is branded by clear skies, sunny days and generally fine weather that braces low relative humidity and has a vast variation of temperature; normally well under way by mid December. Winter conflicts throughout these months generally see a great variation in rainfall also. Temperatures will average at lows of 4ºC and highs of 18ºC; however can occasionally fall below 0ºC.

Hot, Dry Season (spring)

For the majority of time throughout the spring the climate is perceptibly hot and dry. Similar to most other season’s humidity throughout May and June fluctuates a great deal; anywhere between 50% in the morning and throughout the day and 25% or less in the afternoon and early evenings. The climates are very hot at a sweltering 40ºC on average. The maximum temperature ever recorded was in June 1969 in Jaccababad when the climate reached a scorching 53 ºC. Whilst the inland areas are burning

hot, with thanks to cooling sea breezes, the climates along the coastline seem to keep cooler.

Rainy Season (summer)

The south west monsoon originates in Pakistan at the beginning of July and reaches its peak by mid July. While the power of the monsoon increases throughout July, it then remains constant and starts receding at the end of August. September however, has seen some of the worst floods the Indus basin region has ever recorded.

Post Monsoon Season (autumn)

This season seeing temperatures from 34 to 37 throughout the whole country, nights however are fairly cool with low climates of 16. Because of the post Monsoon, rainfall throughout this time is very sporadic, beginning to decrease towards the end of November.

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