Pakistan sees 60% more rains than usual this monsoon season — Met Office

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded 60 percent more rains than usual this monsoon season, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on Friday, as heavy shower lashed several parts of the country.

The statement comes months after the South Asian country recorded its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as the normal average of 22.5 millimeters for the month.

The monsoon season typically begins in Pakistan in late June and continues until mid-September. The country has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns in recent years that scientists have blamed on climate change.

“Overall in country, Pakistan has seen 60 percent more rains [this monsoon season],” PMD Director-General Mehr Sahibzad Khan said at a press conference on Friday.

“In August, 137 percent more rains were received, including 10 percent more in Azad Kashmir, 239 percent in Balochistan, 25 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the most rains were recorded in Sindh at 318 percent.”

Heavy monsoon showers have triggered flash floods across Pakistan and killed nearly 250 people in rain-related incidents since July 1, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The country’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Thursday warned of heavy rains and thunderstorms in parts of the Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces in the next 72 hours.

Pakistan is recognized as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change effects. While the South Asian country recorded its “wettest April since 1961” with 59.3 millimeters of rainfall, some areas of the country faced a deadly heat wave in May and June.

In 2022, unusually heavy rains triggered flash floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting economic losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.