The climate in Pakistan

Climate zone: Subtropics of the northern hemisphere

Several months of the year it is warm to hot at temperatures continuously above 25 degrees centigrade, sometimes up to 40 degrees.

› Duration of daylight and sunshine in Pakistan

Temperature records of the last 71 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to October 2020 was reported by the Jacobabad weather station. In June 2003 the record temperature of 52.5 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 25 weather stations in Pakistan below 1470 metres altitude, was recorded in 1954 with an average temperature of 32.0 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every 4 to 6 hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 30.8 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 71 years was reported by the weather station Dalbandin. Here the temperature dropped to -11.0 °C in January 2006. Dalbandin lies at an altitude of 850 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1973 with an average temperature of 10.4 °C. In Pakistan, it is usual to have about 6.6 degrees more at 17.0 °C for this three-month period.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1980 - 2019

In contrast to single record values, a long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. A simply calculated average value would give a falsified result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would already decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and falsifies the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 4 measuring points in order to have actually comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1980 to 2019 there were only these 4 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Jhelum, Lahore City, Multan, Karachi). From these weather reports we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was 1994 with 34.6 °C. 1984 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 13.1 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 24.6 °C in the years after 1980 and about 25.6 °C in the last years before 2019. So in less than 40 years it has increased by about 1.0 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 4 weather stations in Pakistan. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of the global warming has been provided separately.




More detailed information on global warming with a view by continent can also be found on our topic page on climate change. Data basis: German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements.