Hot Multan Weather During the Summer Season

Multan weather is one of the hottest in Pakistan with the highest temperature ever recorded of 50 degrees Celsius on 27 May 2010!

Multan is practically like a baking oven during the summer season. Be advised therefore that if you plan to travel to Multan, then doing so might not be a good idea during the summer season, delaying it until winters would be a very wise decision actually.

Multan weather is hot for back to back months from around 15^th of April to almost the 15^th of October, that’s half a year and it feels like it takes a century to pass!

Legend Explaining the Hot Weather of Multan

There is a famous legend that many Multaniites speak of when they get blown off by the extreme in the city and try to ascertain it causes. It has to do with one of the Sufi saints buried in Multan namely Shah Shams Tabraiz Sabzwari.

They narrate that legend speaks of how Shah Shams was once very hungry and had nothing but a fish to eat. However, the fish was raw so he knocked on the doors of several households in the city, requesting if anyone could cook it for him. To his disappointment, the rude and wicked people of the time refused him this favor wherever he went. Annoyed by their behavior and forced by his hunger, he raised the fish up to the sun and the sun came down and cooked it for him! He ate the fish and killed his hunger with it.

Ever since that day however, it is said that the sun keeps a very close distance from Multan, acting as a curse of the sufi saint, who was denied this small act of Kindness!

The Low Rate of Rainfall in Multan

Hot Multan weather is such that a minimal level of rainfall is experienced during the summer season. Logically speaking, it is said to be the result of the desert surroundings of the city which have a strong hand in the dry weather of Multan.

Another reason put forth by the locals is the use of witchcraft by the peasant class in Multan to protect their crops from harm as a result of strong rainfall. There are repetitive reports of people doing so for their agri lands so this is the talking point whenever rains last for a brief duration in the city!

However, it is true that the city does not expect rainfall on the same frequency as, say Lahore, which gets a shower every now and then whenever the heat gets unbearable.

In addition to this, it has been observed time and again that whenever rain showers do finally occur, they are brief, because of the strong winds with which they are almost always accompanied. These winds have the effect of driving the water-heavy clouds away before they can drop a good load of water on Multan below!

This is really strange as well as disappointing effect for the Multaniites as they always feel deprived of the much needed rainfall in scorching summers. First, rainfall becomes a luxury for the locals in summers and when it does occur–a scarcity.

Sometimes rainfall has the reverse effect of adding to the heat instead of reducing its impact on the people. This happens when the rainfall occurs during the day time and is extremely brief. Resultantly, it adds to the humidity levels and puts the locals to more test.

Lahori Air Coolers to the Rescue

A huge trend of use of Lahori air coolers has started up in Multan, just as in other cities of the country. This is in addition to extensive use of air conditioners to protect oneself form the sizzling Multan heat. Lahori coolers are particularly popular in Multan, courtesy of the good cooling effect they generate inside of rooms where they are installed. Come summer time and countless number of shops open up selling Lahore coolers to the locals.

Then there are others who make a living making the pads for Lahori air coolers, three each, from khus roots. They base their setup very close to shops selling Lahori coolers so that they can get the right customers for themselves easily.

The trend of using Lahore coolers is not that old however as previously, about ten to fifteen years ago, other kinds of coolers were used for cooling. However, they were substituted with Lahori coolers as the Lahori design is more powerful in keeping rooms cool, relatively speaking. The coolers are all made in Multan but their original design from Lahore is why they are referred to as such.

A full sized Lahore cooler with grade one electrical equipment and body parts can cost as much as PKR 18,000 while smaller sizes are available in relatively lower prices. Also, if you decide to install Chinese made electric equipment in the air-cooler, then it would be much cheaper but the duration of service of its electrical components would be brief as well.

Use of Innovative Ideas to Beat Multan’s Heat Wave

For a couple of years, a very popular new addition to the summer season in Multan and elsewhere in the country, has been the mist fan introduced by the General Fan Company [GFC].

This is a new kind of a fan that has the creativity of a water shower added to it so that it creates a mist which is very soothing and relaxing. The fan is designed to be an outdoor substitute of an air cooler and has been quite popular in the market. Many people have used it so as to relieve themselves of the summer heat in Multan in a creative yet affordable manner.

The mist fan can be used for a restful night outdoors under the sky as it can be very effective during the night time.

This is not the case during the day however because of the high temperature as a result of which the water does not cool the air properly.

Variety of Heat Extinguishers Used By the Populace

For those who work out in the field, the probability of them catching a sun stroke is immense. Temperatures in Multan can range between the thirties and forties during the day. So, the impact on the body can be sky rocketing. Keeping water bottles along with at all times is a good idea to replenish the supply of water in the body that has been lost due to continuous sweating.

Cold Drinks

In addition to this, the use of cold drinks is at an all-time high during the summer season that have the effect of keeping the body cool and well hydrated. People approach shops selling cold drinks in summers like bees attach themselves to their honey! The warmth of the sun overhead is so severe that escape to these shops to cool off, even if temporarily, seems the wisest of ideas to the people.

Gunnay Ka Russ

Furthermore, the use of gannay ka russ has a high frequency during summers in Multan. This is because Multan is one of the biggest growers of sugar cane in the country from which the juice is extracted.

There are a lot many sellers making and selling the juice with big machines fixed atop ray-rees or wooden trolleys. This juice serves to extinguish heat and humidity of the people of Multan, who take to making use of this juice to cool them off time and again. Although there are different opinions regarding this juice but overall, this is much healthier than soft drinks, which are considered to be a menace for the health of the body by many medical doctors.

Badaam Ka Sharbutt

Badaam ka sharbutt is another drink used by the local population to keep their body temperatures low during ten hot summer season. There are two ways of making this healthy drink.

One is to take fresh almonds from the market, cut them into pieces and use a big mortar made of clay along with a wooden or clay pestle to grind the almonds to powder. Mixing them with water and adding a few more ingredients such as sugar completes the process of making the drink manually at home.

Either way, this drink is very healthy for the body during the summer season as it restores vital nutrients to the body and keeps it cool.

The other option is to buy it from any of the unani dawakhanas [Greek Medicine Centers] in the city selling ready-made concentrate of this drink to which only water is required to be added in the correct ratio.

There are also quite a few hakeems in the city practicing hikamat in the city, on the lines of Greek Medicine practices. A large number of people take to these dawakhans and the hakeems whenever they are faced with any health issues.

Muslim High School Kulfi

Furthermore, Kulfi is another popular item of sale in the hot summer season. Many Multaniitees are used to its delicious taste and the soothing effect that it produces during the summer season. Therefore a lot many of them take to buying the cheap yet delicious appetizer to lower the burden of the heat on their nerves.

Very popular in Multan is the Muslim High School Kulfi guy who sells it on a wooden cart outside of the Muslim High School in the city, located near the State Bank building. This Kulfi has been popular for ages and hence has a reputation in the market for its quality and taste.

Cone

Cone is another sought after food item during the hot summer season. There are a number of cone-selling business operating in the city, selling icy cold cone to eager Multaniites in the summer season. At times, long queues can be seen outside of these businesses as some people may even make a routine out of eating cones during summers. They visit the cone shop almost every day to keep tabs on the hot summers that are out to ruin their health!

Baba Ice Cream

Baba ice cream is a very old and famous ice cream that is local to Multan only. Referred to as Baba, Baba was the founder of the business which is a household name in Multan for decades now. Baba ice cream sells thousands of ice creams during the summer season. This is as Multaniitees flock to their branches in Nawan Shehr and Cantonment area, in search of something cool and refreshing to help them do away with the shock of heat!

Baba ice cream has a whole range of tastes such as Vanilla, Pistachio, Khoyya, Pineapple and chocolate to keep a wide range of its customers engaged and interested.

Milkshakes

Milkshakes, particularly those made from Mango pulp, are the hot favorite of the people as they are simply too delicious to be resisted! The mango milkshakes do a great job of satiating the need for taste as well as of the need to drink something cool in Multani summers.

Citrus Juices

Then there are the pure juices made form extracts of citrus fruits such as oranges, carrots, pomegranates, so on and so forth. Shops offering these citrus juices for sale to the public do good business in the summer season.

Popular Drinks Nationwide

In addition to that, the sale of local drinks popular nationwide picks up as well. These include Rooh Afza, Jam-e-Shireen, Squash, Limo Pani, Tang, so on and so forth. This is the right season for manufacturers of these products to make a high profit on their products as they are all very popular in hot summer season in Multan.

Dust Storms and Dust Allergies

Multan city is renowned for its dust storms as there is a high frequency of storms charging on Multan the year round. The location of Multan very close to the Cholistan desert of Punjab is said to account for the high numbers of these storms dust storms which the city experiences, with their frequency increasing during the summer season.

In addition to this, the same desert surroundings have the effect of keeping the nights much cooler in Multan. Temperatures can drop to single figures in the city during the night time, much to the delight of the residents of the city. The night can therefore serve to be a well-suited charging time so the locals are able to relax and prepare themselves to meet the challenge of the heat the very next day!

However, these dust storms can also be problematic for many people. This is because some people in Multan resultantly acquire an allergy to dust. This is probably because of the frequency of it, helped by the storms which spread them into houses in the city. So, that is also an impact of the dust storms in the city.

However, having such an allergy while living in Multan can be a difficult thing to cope with. This is due to the fact that dust is central to the city and the two cannot be separated at any cost! Dust is going be be in and around Multan city every now and then, the year round, as it has always been. So, that is why it can be a gruesome task coping-up with this allergy. Nevertheless, those who are diagnosed with it can devise ways and means to keep their cool when the dust in Multan stirs waves of pain in them.

Humidity Levels That Test the Patience of the Multaniitees

Humidity is the percentage of water vapor in the air that has the effect of discouraging sweat to evaporate form bodies. This feels very troublesome because when sweat DOES evaporate from body, it leaves it with a cooling effect and hence lowers its temperature.

During high levels of humidity in Multan, it can be a very torturing experience like no other and leave the people feeling irate and disgruntled. This is because the sweat due to high temperatures does not evaporate and therefore the cooling effect is not experienced. This leaves the people feeling hot and wet at the same time. It can therefore make the people restless as sweet refuses to evaporate form their bodies so as to provide them with a cooling effect! In the local language, this effect is called chip-chip as that is the feeling that is witnessed during such humidity levels.

High humidity levels are therefore the toughest test of the hot Multan weather relative to all the hot days of the summer.

Staying indoors can be the best option in such a scenario. However, you can get bored if you are forced to consistently stay inside because of the extreme heat outdoors.

King of Fruits Born In Hot Multan Weather

It is in the same hot Multan weather however that the soil of the city produces the King of fruits….Mangoes!

• Multani mangoes are available in the summer season that help balance the hot equation in favor of the people.
• Mangoes from Multan are renowned not only in Pakistan but throughout the world for their unbeaten taste and quality.
• Multani Mangoes serve to be one of the biggest attractions of the season in spite of its intensity of the heat! People long to eat their favorite breed of mangoes to satisfy their taste of tongue and enjoy it time and again throughout the summer season.
• Mangoes from Multan are packed in what are known as pait-tees when they are sold in huge quantities to buyers and also when they are transported to other cities.
• Multani mangoes are so popular that they are used routinely as gifts by the government of Pakistan to heads of states of other countries.

The following are some of the most popular breeds of mangoes from Multan.

• Anwar Rettol
• Safaid Chaunssah
• Kala Chanunnsah
• Langrah
• Tussayree

There are a number of mango orchards in Multan division which produce this most delicious fruit mankind has ever known!

The Local Culture and Multani Mangoes

As part of the local culture, it is said that the best place to sit and eat Multani mangoes is in a tube well! Sitting in the tube well with cold water up till the angles and eating deliciously tasting Mangoes cooled beforehand is said to be a wonderfully enjoying exercise ever!

Also, the traditional way of cooling mangoes in villages is to pitch them in a big container full of water and ice and to keep them submerged inside until they are freezing cold.

This is how villagers in the outskirts of Multan cool the mangoes as fridge and freezers are seldom used or when load-shedding wreaks havoc every now and then.

Other fruits which enjoy a high sale in the city in summers include tarbooz, faalsay, lawkaat, kharbooza and leechi which certainly do a neat job of cooling off the people. They are perfect for consumption after lunch in Multan as they make a very healthy combination with the spicy food that is consumed by many people in the city. These fruits serve the vital function of keeping the stomach’s digestive system healthy and active. This is in spite of the burden of heat on to it that can potentially cause it to malfunction if proper care is not taken.

Lahore Canal Multan Chapter

Taking the lead from the boys of the Lahore Canal, many boys take to diving in canals in Multan to get rid of the high intensity of heat. Swimming in canals has a direct relation with the temperature of the city.

As the mercury rises, so does the frequency of boys diving in a canal to relieve themselves of the heat of the sun and feel relaxed and cooled resultantly. This really so getting to become a culture of the people of the country nationwide!

Warm-Winds Aka Louu

May is the month during which Multan experiences a lot of warm-winds, better known as louu, which can even wreck a healthy person if care enough is not taken to shield the body from its disastrous effects.

A funny-looking yet useful strategy used by some people working outdoors as part of their profession is to use a towel to protect their body from the louu. A towel protects the head and the face from the heat of the running louu very effectively as well as from the direct heat of the sun overhead. This is so that the individual can avoid catching a stroke and hence avoid falling ill as a result of it.

The Never Ending Load-Shedding

Undoubtedly, the immense load-shedding in hot Multan weather adds oil to the fire! Citizens yell in panic when the sun and Wapda play a partnership series against their patience!

Load-shedding during the day makes children yell with pain and after sunset, gives a lot of sleepless nights to the populace.

The locals see no end to this menace that took hold of the entire country starting from 2008. Non-payment of circular debt has a huge role to play in this because money is being spent by the government elsewhere instead of paying the debt to keep the country free of power-cuts.

Metro Bus Multan Adding to the Troubles of the People

Currently, Multaniitees are under a wave of power-cuts between five to twelve hours in duration! This is owing to the metro bus project that is underway in the city. This is only adding to the troubles of the locals during the current summer season.

They foresee no good use of the project on which billions of rupees of public money are being wasted. They find it totally incomprehensible that additional power houses, which are the need of the hour, are not being built. Instead, money is lavishly being spent on a metro bus project that was never a need or demand of the local residents!

Solutions To Load Shedding In Hot Multan Weather

UPS and generators are sold in high numbers during the summer season because without either of them, living in the hot weather in Multan can be hell of a task!

Also, battery powered rechargeable fans are said to be in high demand as well since they are relatively cheaper than a UPS or a generator and hence affordable for a large segment of society. They are most suited to a small family that can do away with a small fan to keep them cool and ventilated whenever there is a power cut during the hot season.

Locally made hand-fans or plastic ones imported from China can also serve their purpose in such a scenario as they are the most cost-effective solution for the poor.

A good solution of load-shedding apart from UPS and generator has been the popularity of solar power panels. This allows the people to put the sizzling Multan heat to some good use!

They can also be connected with a UPS to charge it up for use during the night. During the day however they provide unlimited power for free to run a small fan all free of charge. Hence, they can serve to lessen the impact of power cuts, especially during the day if they occur for as long as six to eight hours!