Climatic Elements

Temperature

Pressure

Rainfall

Winds

Temperature
Diversity of Temperature in various regions is due to the following
factors:

Large Spread of latitude from 24 N to 37 N.

Diversity of relief ranging from the very high mountains ( up to 8610m)

in the north to low lying coastal areas in the south.

The UIP and LIP heats up during summer from 40C-45C .

Jacobabad is know as the thermal Pole of the sub-continent for the its
max temperature 53C in June and mean monthly max temperature 43C
in May and June.

Coastal Areas have moderate temperature during summer and winter

due to the sea breeze lowering the daily temperature range.

Factors Affecting Temperature of Pakistan

Latitudinal effect

Continental Effect
Altitude and Temperature

Cloud cover and Temperature

Latitude and the angle of the sun

Rainfall
Monsoon Rainfall

Western Depression

Convectional rain

Relief rainfall

Tropical cyclone

Monsoon Rainfall
Pakistan receives tail end of the monsoon winds.

They enter Pakistan from south east after crossing India.

They usually enter Pakistan in July and last till September.

Since they enter from the east , so the eastern part of Pakistan receives
more rainfall.

The main monsoon winds enter northern Punjab, with the secondary
entering southern Punjab and Sindh.

The amount of rainfall decreases sharply from North to south.

Murree receives 813mm (highest).Nokundi 2.5mm (lowest)

 Western Depressions
The western depression originates in the Mediterranean sea due to low
air pressure on the land and high air pressure on the sea.

The tail end of the western depression enters Pakistan after crossing
Turkey, Iraq and Iran.

They are robbed off most of their moisture on the long land Journey so
they bring a small amount of rainfall to Pakistan.

The onslaught of the western depression starts in December and

continues up to March.

Balochistan receives large share of rainfall i.e. 150 mm to 250mm

annually.

Owing to western depression rivers of Balochistan swell in winter.

Convectional rain
Hot air rises during summer and when it reaches the higher layer of the
atmosphere, condensation takes place causing rainfall. Strong winds
accompanying the storm 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 experience less rainfall because of temperature
inversion layer.

Temperature Inversion Layer

The criss-cross system of warm winds does not allow condensation to
take place at 1600m. As a result air descends and no rainfall occurs.
That’s why Karachi does not receive convectional rainfall despite high
daily temperatures in May, June and October.

Tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone can bring heavy rainfall for few hours and can cause a
lot of destruction. They originate in the Arabian Sea quiet often but
barely reach the coast of Pakistan. Therefore this source of rainfall is
totally unreliable.

Relief rain
Relief rainfall is related to the height of land. It occurs where moist
unstable air moves up a mountain, cools condenses and clouds are
formed and it rains on the windward side of the mountain.

As the clouds reach the leeward side of the mountain they are rid of all
the moisture and hence little or no rain falls creating a rain shadow
area.

Pressure and Winds

South West Monsoon Winds
 During Summer season, the temperature of central Pakistan is
High . This causes the hot air to rise up and form a low-pressure
area.

 At the same time oceans and seas have comparatively low

temperature. This causes the cold air to sink creating a high
pressure area.
 This leads to the movements of monsoon winds from sea to land,
which are moisture-laden and bring heavy rainfall to the upper
and lower Indus plain in the months of July and August.

North –East Monsoon winds

 During Winter the temperature are low over the land creating a
high Pressure areas in the north – west of Pakistan.

 The winds now blow out from the land which is a high pressure
area towards the sea which is the low pressure area.

 These winds are called the winter monsoon winds or the North-
east Monsoon winds. These winds are generally light and dry.