City bakes at 42 degrees celsius

The port city baked at 42 degrees Celsius on Monday as the weather system, dubbed Western Disturbance, moved northwards bringing hot gusts of winds from arid planes of Balochistan pushing back the cool sea breeze.

The mercury is likely to stay in the band of 38 to 40 degree Celsius on Tuesday, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said.

The humidity in the air was recorded at 50 per cent, which increased the heat index (real feel) to 51 degrees Celsius, reminding the city dwellers of the killer heatwave of 2015.

The effects of the western system's abnormal heat on the city will start to diminish in the next 36 hours, said Karachi's Chief Meteorologist Sardar Sarfraz. Though the partial heatwave will wane, the weather will contine to remain hot and humid, he added. The weatherman said that the reason for the unusual heat is the westerly weather system that has been moving towards Pakistan for the past few days. He added that hot and dry winds were trailing behind the western system. Due to the northward movement of the system, the direction of winds was changing. Resultantly, the sea breezed stopped and northwestern winds from Balochistan brough in hot and dusty gusts in the city.