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Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere, and its short-term variation in minutes
to weeks. People generally think of weather as the combination of temperature, humidity,
precipitation, cloudiness, visibility, and wind.

Climate is the weather of a place averaged over a period of time, often 30 years.

Climatic zones of Pakistan

Pakistan is divided in four climatic regions.

Highland climate Lowland climate Coastal climate Arid climate

Highland Climate

 This region includes northern, north-western western highlands.

 The winter are long, cold and snowy and summers are short and mild.

 Rainfall is associated with altitude.

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 Northern mountains receive high rainfall while western mountain receive less rainfall.

 Rain shadow areas in north also receive less rainfall like Gilgit and Chitral.

 Tempratue vary from north to south.

Low land Climate (semi arid to arid)

 This region includes whole of the indus plain except coastal areas.

 Most of it lie at the western end of the tropical monsoon zone.

 It has arid and extreme climate with hot summers, cool winters and summer monsoon
rainfall.

 Amount of rainfall differs from north to south.

 Potwar plateau and north are wetter than the indus plain.

 Thunder storms are comman in north of indus plain.

 South of upper indus plain and Lower indus plain receive less rainfall and spells of high
tempratue.

Coastal Climate

 Region includes Indus delta, Karachi and Makran coast.

 Climate is dominated by sea breezes.

 Maritime influence keeps the daily range of temperature low.

 Humidity level is moderately high.

 Mean monthly temprature is 32, may june and october are the hottest months.

 Ranfall is little throughout the year.

 Rainfall in monsoon season from Karachi to Rann of kutch Makran coast receives rainfall
in winter.

Maritime Influence
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 Influence of sea is felt mainly from prevailing winds thruogh out the year.
 Temorature at sea and land is different due to unequal heating of land
and water by sun.
 Land and water absorbs and loses heat at different rates.
 In summer the land heats up while ocean remains comparatively cool.
 In winters land loses heat quickly and sea is much warmer and keeps its
warmth longer.

Arid Climate

 Regions include south-western Balochistan and south-eastern deserts.

 They are mostly dry and hot.

 Mid may to mid sep hot dusty winds prevail.

 Raerely any rainfall during winter un south western balochistan.

 Summer monsoon brings little rainfallduring summer in south eastern deserts.

 Extreme heat, dryness and dust storms are the main features.

Pakistan: The Season

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Pakistan has four seasons are as under

a) Winter (mid-December to March).

b) Early Summer (April to June).

c) Late Summer monsoon(July to September).

d) Post monsoon (October to December).

Climatic Elements
There are four main climatic elements.

a) Temperature b) Pressure c) Rainfall d) Winds

Temperature
Factors affecting temperature in Pakistan

Latitudinal Distance from the Altitude Cloud cover Angle of the

effect sea sun

Latitudinal effect

 temperature are higher at or near the equator

 southern Pakistan is closer to the equator than northern Pakistan

 For this is the surface of the earth’s part is curved. as the result, the sun ‘s vertical ray
strike different parts of the earth surface at different angles. at the equator, the vertical
rays hit the earth’s surface at an angle of 90◦(angle of incidence) towards the poles.

Altitude

 altitude is the height above the sea level

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 high altitude (at the mountain), low temperature

 low altitude (on land surface), high temperature

 at the higher altitudes , the amount of atmosphere decreases and as the result there is
less water vapor in the air. The atmosphere absorbs less heat and therefore the
temperature at higher altitude drops.

Distance from the sea

 maritime influence  continental influence

When the sea is cooler than the land in located in the interior of large continents
summer, it lower the temperature of or land masses are under continental
coastal place. however , during the winter influence, that is, the sea does not an
the sea is warmer than the land and keep effect on them as they are too far in
coastal places warmer by moderating the temperatures. as land heats up rapidly,
winter temperature inland locations tend to have hotter
summers than areas near the coast in
similar latitudes.

Cloud cover

 During the day, the earth is heated by the sun. If skies are clear, more heat reaches the
earth's surface (as in the diagram below). This leads to warmer temperatures.
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 However, if skies are cloudy, some of the sun's rays are reflected off the cloud droplets
back into space. Therefore, less of the sun's energy is able to reach the earth's surface,
which causes the earth to heat up more slowly. This leads to cooler temperatures.

 At night cloud cover has the opposite effect. If skies are clear, heat emitted from the
earth's surface freely escapes into space, resulting in colder temperatures.

 However, if clouds are present, some of the heat emitted from the earth's surface is
trapped by the clouds and reemitted back towards the earth. As a result, temperatures
decrease more slowly than if the skies were clear.

Angle of the sun

 The amount of the Sun’s energy falling at any point on the Earth depends on the angle
of the Sun. This is reason why the seasons have different temperatures, and the

 Polar Regions are colder, on average than regions around the equator.

 During summer in the northern horizon, the Sun is at its maximum angle in the sky, and
we get the most energy. But in the winter, the Sun is at a much steeper angle, and so we
get less energy from the Sun. And this is why we experience different seasons – it’s all in
the angle of the Sun.

Rainfall
Sources of Rainfall

Monsoon Western Convectional Relief rainfall Tropical

Winds Depression currents cyclone
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Monsoon Winds

 The word monsoon mean season.

 The summer winds are called south-west monsoon.

 The winter winds are called north-east monsoon.

 Some monsoon winds blow across south-east Pakistan from the Arabian Sea.

 They are weak and have little effect.

 Sometimes an Over-active monsoon system brings heavy monsoon rainfall in Karachi

and coastal areas of Sindh.

South-west monsoons North-east monsoon

 South-west monsoons are giant sea  North-east monsoon blow from the
breezes bring heavy rainfall. land towards sea.
 The rain starts when summer sun heats  During winter a high pressure area is
up in tropical continents much faster created over the tropic of cancer.
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than the ocean around.  Winds blow from land to sea which is a
 Rising warm air overland creates a low low pressure area.
pressure, attracts cool moist air from  These winds are mostly dry and bring
sea and rain bearing winds causing no significant change because they
heavy rainfall. originate in a dry area.
 They mainly blow from Bay of Bengal.
 They tail end of these winds reach
Pakistan after crossing Bangladesh and
North India.
 Start to blow in June and bring heavy
rain in July in northern Punjab.
 September is the end of the monsoon.

Western Depression

 They are cyclones originate in mediterranean sea, travel across Afghanistan and Iran
then reach western pats of Pakistan.

 Then the winds towards western and south western parts.

 These winds cause rainfall from December to March.

 Quetta receives the most rainfall from these winds during winter season.
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Western parts of Pakistan receive more rainfall from western depression than from
other sources.

Convectional Currents

 Hot air rises during summer and when it reaches the high layer of atmosphere,
condensation takes place causing rainfall.

 Strong winds accompanying the storms may pick up dust with them.

 Only northern and north western areas of Pakistan receive rainfall from
Convectional currents.

 Southern Pakistan despite being more hot then the northern areas receive less rainfall
because of temperature inversion layer.

 A temperature inversion is where the air temperature rises with altitude. This means
that convection is less effective because the air above is already warmer, and so there is
less mixing of air between altitudes.

Relief Rainfall

 Relief rainfall is related to the height of land.

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 It occurs where moist unstable air moves up a mountain edge and it is chilled.

 Heavy condensation takes place and rainfall occurs.

 Northern and north-western areas receive some of the rainfall due to relief.

Tropical Cyclones

 They bring heavy rainfall for few hours.

 They originate in Arabian Sea.

 They usually reach the coast of Pakistan once every few years.

 They are unreliable sources of rainfall.

 They bring heavy destruction if occur with maximum capacity.

Winter Rainfall (Advantages)

Advantages Disadvantages
 Fills reservoirs / rivers / more  May fall as snow. Rivers / lakes
storage. frozen.
 Water for irrigation.  Temperature too cold for growth.
 Water for HEP.  Damage to environment – landslides,
 Water for barani crops. mudslides, floods etc.
 Water for winter crops / fruit trees.  Damage to roads – blockage, slippery
 Lighter form of rain – can soak in. etc.
 Snow for tourism.  Silt collects in reservoirs / dams.
 Difficulties meaning farmers must
do transhumance / nomadism.

Pressure & Winds

 During the summer, the temperature in central Pakistan is high.

 This cause the hot air to rise up and form a low-pressure zone.

 The air pressure over the oceans is higher than over the land during summer.
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 During winter the pressure over the land increases and a high-pressure area is created
in the north-west of Pakistan.

Climatic hazards
(Floods)

 Flood is a temporary covering of land by water which is dry.

 They can be caused by:

 Natural factors Heavy monsoon rainfall accompanied with melting of snow and ice in
glaciers causing excess of water in rivers, dam or barrage failure

 The indus tributaries overflow almost every year but only sometimes the flood risk is
serious.

 Human Factors like Deforestation ● failure to heighten or strengthen embankments ●

poor medical and communication facilities in aftermath of disaster ● inadequate
warning systems to allow people time for escape.

Benefits of Floods Effects of Flood / Problems Measures (To reduce the

flood risk)
 Floods return nutrients  Destruction of crops.  Planting trees on the
to the land.  Loss of food supply. foothills to check the
 Floods refresh the  Mud houses and huts flow of running water.
streams. could be severely  Enlarging the river
 Floods spread a layer of damaged. channel so that it can
alluvium which  Danger of diseases. be hold more water.
increases the fertility of  Interrupt  Building embankments
the land. communication / roads on either side of the
 Store maximum water / railway. river to prevent the
in dams.  Kill livestock. spread of water.
 Rise water level.  Little / no supply of raw  Building reservoirs on
 Promotes inland fishing material to industries. the river to store water
industry.  Destroy bridges. and control peak
 Interrupts services / discharge.
utilities / electricity  Preventing building in
supplies. areas where flooding is
most likely.
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 Publicizing flood
warnings through
Radio, Television and
Newspapers.
 Providing necessary
facilities for
rehabilitation in
flooded areas.

Storms

Thunderstorms Dust storms

 Thunderstorms occur in the same  A storm in which dense masses of dust
fashion as convectional rainfall. are carried by the winds.
 With the main difference being that the  Dust storms are most common in Sindh,
air here rises very quickly forming particularly in the desert areas.
Cumulonimbus clouds, which are very  Dust storms are usually experienced in
tall and big. summer season in May and June.
 This is followed by strong winds,  In the absence of moisture, dust is
lightning and heavy rainfall. wipped up to form dust storm.
 Hailstones may also be formed, when  Dust is created by intense heating of
the water vapours are cooled multiple desert.
times (to form water first and then ice).  Areas where an intense low pressure
develops temporarily.
 This low pressure attract winds from
nearby region.
 These strong winds pickup dust, sand
and dust storm is created. About 15 to
20 dust storms take place every year.

Drought

 Extreme dryness due to lack of rain. It is almost found in deserts areas like Cholistan and
Tharparkar.

 There are four types of droughts

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 Permanent drought Occurs when crop cultivation is highly dependent on irrigation only

 Seasonal drought Occurs when rainy areas faces dry seasons for longer period then
usual

 Invisible drought Occurs when water deficiency reduces crop yield but does not destroy
them

 Unpredictable drought Caused by abnormally low rainfall in areas of humid climate

Causes of Drought Effects of Drought Drought Management

 Natural Factors  Crop yields can be  People are settled in
Unreliability of monsoon. dramatically reduced temporary refugee
Dry and hot dusty winds can and livestock camps specially sick.
reduce the moisture content. production could fall  Supplied of food by
(milk, eat etc). This can charities and
 Human Factors raise prices of goods international relief
Deforestation. and affect price of agencies.
Unfair distribution of water exported goods making  Water storage schemes
between Punjab and Sindh them uncompetitive in (construction of Dams
Province. international markets and tanks) Irrigation
Over grazing of land by goat thus harming national canals to grow crops,
and sheep. interests. planting of trees.
Global Warming.  Dust storms can occur,  Use of new technology
when drought hits an (Desalination of sea
area suffering from water, Reclaiming
desertification and waste water and
erosion. This can lead turning into clean
to siltation in reservoirs water, using drought
of dam, hampering resistant varieties of
electricity generation crops).
and weakening dam’s Lining the canals.
foundation.
 Habitat damage,
affecting both
terrestrial and aquatic
wildlife.
 Malnutrition,
dehydration and
related diseases could
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affect millions.
 Mass migration causing
the increase in internal
refugees or
international refugees.