Lockdown may have lowered Islamabad, Rawalpindi temperatures

The ongoing COVID-19 lockdown and limited traffic might have led to a drop of more than 10 per cent in daytime temperatures in the Pakistani twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, it was reported on Monday.

Islamabad, April 27 The ongoing COVID-19 lockdown and limited traffic might have led to a drop of more than 10 per cent in daytime temperatures in the Pakistani twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, it was reported on Monday.

Official Met Office figures showed that the maximum temperature in Islamabad fell by 12 per cent in April, with the average temperature at 26.8 degrees Celsius, reports Dawn news.

The average maximum temperature in Rawalpindi was 27.3 degrees Celsius, 10 per cent lower than normal.

A senior Met Office official said the drop in daytime temperatures was not supported by any other technical reason than limited human interventions.

"Even rainfall in Rawalpindi's urban areas has been below normal, but the heavy traffic, small heat-emitting units and even human exhalations in a close area create a heat cloud over congested cities," Dawn news quoted the official as saying.

The official added that there has not been a significant change in night-time temperatures, as the minimum temperature in Islamabad has been 2.3 per cent lower than normal while the situation in Rawalpindi was the opposite.

With the onset of summer at the beginning of May, temperatures will likely be normal next month.

But, if the lockdown continues in May, rain will cool down areas in the north, according to the official.

( With inputs from IANS )