KARACHI: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in its fresh weather advisory issued on Thursday has warned that Karachi will be hit by a heatwave on coming Saturday (tomorrow). The mercury in the coastal city is expected to rise to 42°C. On Thursday, the maximum temperature was recorded at around 39-41oC and the minimum around 28.5oC, with humidity at 60-70 percent in the morning and 40-45 percent in the evening. “On Saturday, westerly and northwesterly winds will be blowing, due to which sea breeze is expected to stop blowing in the city, causing the mercury to soar,” said the PMD weather advisory. It said that the mercury is expected to reach up to 40-42oC (maximum), with humidity levels would be at around 30-40 percent in the morning but it would fall to around 15-25 percent in the evening. Without sea breeze, the rising mercury level coupled with prolonged power outages in the holy month of Ramzan would require people to take extra precautions to avoid health hazards. In 2015, the city witnessed country’s deadliest heatwave that killed over 1,200 people and left 40,000 with heatstroke and heat exhaustion. Afterwards, the city administration chalked out a Heatwave Management Plan which brings on board several differenet departments of the government as well as non-government bodies to deal with any emergent situations in a coordinated and effective manner. A key component of the plan is to issue warnings and alerts using traditional as well as new media so that the public is better informed about days when mercury levels are going to be alarmingly high. The plan has been put to test already during the month of April when record-breaking temperatures were noted in the province. Meanwhile, health experts suggest that to avoid the dangers of heatstroke, people must stay hydrated at all times, but since it is the holy month of Ramzan and many will be fasting so they must avoid going out in the sun unless it is completely unavoidable. While going outside, people must try to keep their heads covered at all times. Published in Daily Times, May 18th 2018.