Flooding in Karachi after early monsoon thunder

After another scorching pre-monsoon heatwave, the rain has come to Pakistan’s Sindh Province.

Turbat, in Balochistan, reached 42.5C on Wednesday, a big drop from Monday’s high of 47.5C. The drop in temperature was accompanied by a gusty southwest wind and heavy clouds. And although the relative humidity increased to 50 percent, there was no rain fall.

Nawabshah, notoriously one of the hottest cities in Pakistan and in Sindh Province, dropped below 40C on Tuesday, as stormy weather rolled in to the area. The storm brought nearly 58mm of rainfall by Wednesday.

In Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and the capital of Sindh Province, streets flooded as the skies opened up on Tuesday evening. Nearly 43mm of rain fell in only three hours. Another 20mm fell on Wednesday. This is unusually early monsoon rain – the average rainfall for June is just 5.5mm. However, July is the wettest month with about 85mm expected.

Although the rain was a relief from the blazing heat for most, it also brought disaster. Five people were killed by lightning in the district of Tharparkar. Another four died of electric shock.

In its monsoon forecast, the Pakistan Meteorological Office, said that the “summer monsoon rainfall is likely to be 10-20 percent above normal over the country, averaged for three months.”