KARACHI: Sindh and Balochistan saw record rainfall in August 2022, as the country received 243 percent more rains as compared to the normal level since 1961, the Met Office has said.
The last record rainfall was recorded in August of 1961. On an average, rainfall in August contributes 19 percent to the monsoon spell from July to Sept annually, it said in its monthly climate survey.
Sindh witnessed 442.8mm (726 percent), Balochistan 154.9mm (590 percent) and Gilgit-Baltistan 55.7mm (233 percent) extremely higher rains than average in Aug 2022.
August 2022 turns out to be the second ever wettest month for Gilgit-Baltistan, as the record rainfall was 89.1mm recorded in 1997.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa met with largely above average rainfall with 163.9mm to 58 percent and Punjab 141.7mm to 52 percent. It was the fourth wettest August for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 1961. Kashmir stood out with a near normal rains of 146.1 mm to minus 3 percent.
On average Sindh and eastern Balochistan experienced 15 and 9 rainy days respectively in August 2022.
The country's wettest day was August 19 when Padidan in Sindh recorded 355mm of rainfall to 1228.5mm cumulatively in the month. It also makes Padidan the wettest ever place in Sindh.
In August 2022, about four widespread rainy spells were recorded. The incessant intense rains across large swaths of Sindh and Balochistan occurred between August 11 and August 27, which proved to be one of the most significant on record, the Met added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022