Last month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) encountered unprecedented rainfall, marking the highest precipitation in 59 years with a total of 174.9mm, surpassing the previous record set in 1965 of 158.6mm.
The meteorological department’s April 2024 “climate summary” revealed that KP experienced its wettest April since 1964, with rainfall significantly exceeding the average. On April 14, the Dir region and on April 20, the Malam Jabba area of Swat district reported the heaviest one-day rainfall at 91mm each.
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Malam Jabba emerged as the wettest location, receiving a total of 520mm of rainfall for the month. Concerns were raised by experts over the drastic shift in weather patterns, with several areas within the province breaking long-standing records for extreme weather conditions. For instance, Chitral district saw its wettest April since 1964, recording 283.5mm of rainfall, surpassing the previous high of 208mm set in 1964. Similarly, Dir district experienced a record-breaking 461.9mm of rainfall, eclipsing the 1995 record of 353mm.
In Drosh, Chitral, a staggering 300.4mm of rainfall was recorded, smashing the previous high of 278.4mm set in April 1908. Additionally, Kakul in Abbottabad district registered 289mm, surpassing the 1961 record of 254.3mm.
Chitral and Drosh also recorded their lowest daytime temperatures on April 15 at 3.2 and 3.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The report highlighted other significant rainfall figures across the province, including Dir (461.9mm), Saidu Sharif (382mm), Kalam (379.6mm), Lower Dir (346.9mm), Ghari Duppatta (280.3mm), Mirkhani (270mm), and Peshawar (220.7mm). The unusual weather patterns were attributed to successive western disturbances entering the country between April 2 and April 30, affecting various regions including KP, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Balochistan, and parts of Sindh.
Dr. Khan Alam, a professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Peshawar, linked the extreme weather events to the rise in sea surface temperature and other climatic factors, resulting in heightened vapor emissions from the Indian Ocean. He emphasized the global nature of the issue, advocating for international cooperation to address such challenges.
