An Op-Ed by Yahya from Karachi, a part of the PWP INTERACTIVE series

February 3, 2024: THE CLOUDBURST-STYLE DOWNPOUR

The day started calm and cloudy. By 11:00 AM, the clouds had darkened. By the afternoon, they were dark and slightly blue, but it did not rain at all. The evening stayed cloudy. By nightfall, at 8:00 PM, it started drizzling, quickly changing to medium showers before turning heavy. Thunderstorms later accompanied the rainfall. Within a short while, when I looked outside, it was raining extremely hard. It was pouring so intensely that no buildings could be seen at all; I have never seen this much rainfall in my life. There was a massive thunderclap followed by several others. It was undoubtedly heavy.

After 9:30 PM, the rain began to subside. Once it was over, a light mist covered our area for the rest of the night. Rain showers continued the next day on the afternoon of February 4, after which the weather started to improve. Karachi saw a whopping 77 mm of rain in just 1.5 hours, which was the second-highest recorded since February 19, 1979, when 96 mm was seen.

March 18, 2026: THE RAGING WINDSTORM (Ramadan 2026)

After a long period of boring, hot, dry, and stable weather, I was hoping for some rain. As the sun rose around 7:00 AM, the weather was partly to mostly cloudy, with a few weak to moderate thunderclouds present in the sky. By 10:00 AM, the sky was completely overcast. The afternoon was warm, muggy, and damp, with a light drizzle occurring in Saddar. The sky alternated between overcast periods and weak sunshine. Before Iftar, the sky started to clear up, though a few moderate thunderclouds remained over Karachi. At Iftar time, just after sunset, the sky became cloudy once again.

Before Taraweeh, Google forecasted “Rain Showers” between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. But what I didn’t know was that a violent thunderstorm was approaching; it was already showing on the radar. After 9:30 PM, loud thunder and intense lightning started, and the winds suddenly picked up speed. The rain became extremely heavy. The winds grew incredibly powerful, accompanied by very loud thunderclaps, blowing away weak structures and creating difficult challenges for people outside.

The storm subsided by 10:30 PM; however, it tragically resulted in 21 deaths and 27 injuries. The highest rainfall recorded was 55.6 mm in Korangi, while other areas saw between 4 mm and 35 mm. Wind speeds reached 80–90 km/h+, peaking at 97 km/h in Mauripur. The next day brought drizzling conditions and cool western winds, followed by much weaker weather systems until April.

April 2, 2026: THE MEGA WESTERN DELUGE

After a two-week break following the crazy March storm, a rain warning was forecast once again. This time was no ordinary event, as the Western Disturbance (WD) jet stream took a deep dip directly south, all the way to Karachi. Before sunrise, thunderstorms started forming in the northwest side of Karachi. By 7:00 AM, the sky was overcast with dark thunderclouds. A drizzle began, which gradually turned into a heavy downpour. During a brief break in the rain, the air felt warm and extremely humid.

By afternoon, a severe thunderstorm ripped through the city with torrential rain. By 2:00 PM, the downpour and intense thunderstorms flooded the roads in a span of just 30 minutes. Afterward, there was a sunny break, though the clouds returned by late afternoon. In the evening, a rainbow appeared during a sunny interval, even as a dark, black cloud engulfed the sky. After the rainbow faded, the sky turned an eerie yellow, and Mammatus clouds formed. It felt like Karachi had transformed into a dreamland.

The final spell hit at midnight, bringing a severe thunderstorm. By Fajr, the skies finally started to clear. The following day was clear and very pleasant. On April 2, the high temperature was only 24°C and the low was 16°C, making it the coolest April day I have ever experienced. The highest rainfall was 97.4 mm in Nazimabad, while the Old Airport area broke a 41-year-old record by recording 38.7 mm.

Get INTERACTIVE with PWP

Have an interesting weather or climate-related post you want to share with the world? Send it to babar.hussain.blog@gmail.com and become a part of the PWP INTERACTIVE series!