‘Back to Back Storms – Hails and Winds blast Peshawar’
Roar like a thunderstorm!
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is under the grip of some severe weather events that has been blasting the Province since the last few days. The storms have taken the lives of many people. The scenes are not so different in the provincial capital as well, Peshawar which has been hit hard by back to back storms. The disturbed weather last for 15 minutes to an hour and leaves a trail of destruction behind it.
The First incident – Western winds takes responsibility
‘Rain, Snow, Hail, Winds, Floods, Landslide – All in one!’
Crystal stones from the sky!
A Western system (numbered ’08’ by PWP) affected the northern areas of the country from May 24 night till May 27 morning. It was welcomed by the people as it significantly weakened the extreme heatwave that had gripped the entire country since May 15 however it was not a calm weather front. Western trough ’08′ brought severe hailstorm to the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar along with dust storms. The severe hailstorm lasted in Peshawar for 15 minutes that carpeted the city white!
Death Toll
- 4 people died across the northern areas
However Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not in this grief alone, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan too saw the wrath of nature. Floods and Landslide hit these regions, snowfall occurred over also occurred over mountain peaks in Gilgit-Baltistan province. The wind speed in Islamabad and Rawalpindi reached 85 km/h and 120 km/h respectively.
The Second Incident – Western winds take responsibility again
‘Winds grew stronger and stronger!’
Dust of West grips Peshawar!
Another western system (numbered ’09’ by PWP) though weaker from its predecessor started from June 2 mid-day and lasted till June 3 night. 75 km/h (46 mph) winds lasted till an hour that devastated Peshawar city as many billboards and trees were uprooted while walls of houses collapsed.
Death Toll
- 17 people died across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 40 injured
The fierce winds also reached Islamabad/Rawalpindi where according to few local stations unconfirmed 90 km/h to 130 km/h winds blew in the cities.
More to come?
Things are going to be quiet for some days in Peshawar however during the middle of June there can be another wave of western winds but this time the western winds would not be the only thing near the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there will be another thing as well. What could it be? Eastern winds might be waiting at the Pak-Indo border!
Pakistan Weather Portal (PWP) 
Wish we could get some hail like Peshawar.
We did get hails in this winter/spring season, i doubt that Karachi ever witness a ‘hailstorm’.
The Pakistan-Arabia Dust Cloud today is moving away from the coast of Pakistan, which is going to allow the monsoon rains to begin, but Pakistan might be caught in a stall of the rain that sometimes forms at the edge of the Dust Cloud, that you can see at http://www.ecoseeds.com/dust-6-3-13.png
Well that is good for now !
Islamabad is the best.I was terrified and excited as the wind was so fast I could hear its sound And we were afraid the the windows might break.One of our globe light broke.The devastation was incredible as trees,bill broads etc were uprooted or broken.
winds that are greater than 100 km/h are always dangerous..
Dude, if you like the wind, shift 15 km south to Rawalpindi where almost always the wind speed is 20-30 % stronger! 😉 but i can totally relate with your excitement and terror 😀
updates about bahawalpur sir?
Dry and hot weather to continue..
http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/pakistan/karachi/ext
They’re showing 100mm+ rain in Karachi on 18th july.
The can show whatever amount, fact of the matter is the things will change in coming days. One thing that will not change is the chance of pre monsoon rain in karachi during the middle of June.
Yeah I know, my point is that they’re probably showing this for a reason.
Overall these are good signs..
June*
High level clouds in Karachi, so hot and humid here :X
Yes so much stuffy weather!
ARB01 intensified again ?
The circulation/low ARB 01 weakened and move eastwards and from it this intensified once again and again moved towards Oman, so yeah its somewhat the same system.
Tarim bhai they are not saying 100 mm rainfall.They are saying 100% chance of rain amount is 26.6 mm And on June 18
For the Islamabad storm on June 2, OPRN (Benazir Bhutto Airport) reported wind speeds at 70 knots (130 kmh) at 7:25 and at 7:30 respectively.
Also, Peshawar City (synop: 41529) reported hail stones measuring 5.5 cm X 4.5 cm and weighing 350g (0.35 kg) for the storm in Peshawar. I have been an avid follower of weather in Pakistan for a few years now and i do not recall hail stones of this size ever.
Can you confirm if these are the largest hail stones ever measured in Pakistan?
And finally, the GFS has been consistently showing significant rains in Pakistan in mid June for 4-5 runs now… what are your opinions about that?
Love your blog and awaiting the next post!!
Thank you for your information.
It is clear now that 130 km/h winds occurred in Islamabad. However I do not have much data for Peshawar.
Apart from GFS, other models also do show good rains in June. PWP will soon be posting an update on ‘Monsoon of Pakistan’ page.
Regards.
PWP, you should remember that OPRN station (Islamabad Airport) is actually located in the heart of Rawalpindi city. Geography of the cities are weird, i know! Wind speeds in Islamabad are usually considerably different as Islamabad is actually 8KM away from the airport. Hence, the wind gusts reached 70 knots in Rawalpindi, but data for Islamabad (zero point WS) as usual wasn’t released by PMD.
Okay, glad of you by letting everyone know about this!
Talal, Islamabad Airport reports weather for Rawalpindi city because the aiport is located in Rawalpindi, not Islamabad. This distinction is crucial because almost always wind speeds reported for storms in Islamabad are considerably different (usually lower) from that for Rawalpindi. Thanks!
Yeah Pre-monsoon Heavy rain in Sindh 😀
I think this year’s monsoon will be like 2009 😀 I hope so ❤
Yeah 2009 Monsoon was memorable 😀 !!
What’s the reason of heavy pre-monsoon rains in Sindh ?
Well first of all the season is neutral as far as ENSO conditions are concerned. There are some hurdles in the monsoon too, shall discuss them in Monsoon V. It was however briefly discussed in Monsoon I.
Now the answer for heavy showers in Sindh, though still they is a chance but good chance. Level of dust concentration plays an important role allowing system to move freely, there are chances that the dust level remains low to moderate in June that could allow the monsoon low to move freely hence moving into Sindh.
Did you know that a second line of thunderstorms struck the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad roughly 7 hours later on 3rd June 2013 at 1:50AM . This time a heavy thunderstorms accompanied by straight lined SUSTAINED wind speed of 67 km/h from westernly direction(3 min average in Rawalpindi), and much stronger gusts slammed the cities for more than an hour. Interestingly, tracking the storm revealed that in 2.5 hours this storm reached Sialkot with wind gusts of 74 km/h from the North. Those winds reached Lahore and Amristar from N and NWW direction casuing a slight dust storm and cooler morning.
Its nice to see that people from Punjab are increasing their presence!!
There were two dust storms in Northern areas of Pakistan just like you mentioned, I believe the second wave of dust storm brought rain to Islamabad/Rawalpindi.
Haha! That is right Mr. Hussain. I know, it seems like most people on your blog are from Karachi. A lot of fun weather occurs in Northern Punjab that goes widely unreported because our media yet has to learn how to report weather properly. I will write up a few articles this summer for your blog. Since next month, I will be completing ten years of extreme weather data that I recorded for the twin cities which people should know… 🙂
Interesting observations especially on storms!
Yes most of them are from Karachi! The western winds do bring sort of foreign weather to the northern areas of the country, we have seen dust storms, windstorms, hailstorms, tornadoes, micro-burst and other things. Such weather events are mostly uncommon in southern parts.
I will be waiting for your much expected article! 🙂