Amidst widespread reports of cloudburst events in Pakistan during the ongoing monsoon season, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has clarified that there have been no cloudburst events in the country in 2025, as of August 21, 2025.
In an exclusive interview with Climate Inn, Anjum Nazir Zaigham, Deputy Director of PMD in Karachi, attributed the recent flash floods to the rapid melting of glaciers due to rising temperatures in the northern parts of Pakistan. “The northern parts of Pakistan were warmer, up to 9 degrees Celsius above normal, during the monsoon season this year,” Zaigham said. “As a result, the melting of glaciers increased, leading to flash floods in rivers and streams.”
Zaigham emphasized that human activities have exacerbated the situation, citing deforestation on mountain tops and new settlements in waterways as major contributing factors. “When such events occur, these factors make the situation more dire and dangerous,” he warned. Specifically, he mentioned the situation in Buner, where flash floods occurred due to excessive tree cutting from the top of the mountains.
According to Zaigham, the rise in temperature in Pakistan’s northern areas is a new phenomenon this year, with both day and night temperatures experiencing significant increases. “This triggers the melting of glaciers, and we see the consequences in the form of flash floods,” he explained. He also noted that the previous winter did not bring sufficient snowfall in the hill torrents and mountainous areas, resulting in 50% less snow cover.
The PMD official also highlighted the importance of accurate terminology, noting that the term “cloudburst” is often misused in Pakistan. “Cloudburst is a phenomenon that occurs only in mountainous regions, but people use this word very frequently, even in plain areas,” he said. “In reality, what we experience in Pakistan are isolated vigorous events characteristic of the South Asian monsoon.”
Zaigham defined cloudburst as a phenomenon where 100 millimeters of rainfall occurs in a particular mountainous area within an hour. “This year, up to August 21, 2025, there is no evidence of such an event occurring in Pakistan,” he stated.
The PMD has a network of over 107 observatories and 100 automatic weather stations across the country, which has not recorded any instance of 100 millimeters of rainfall in an hour. Although Dir reported 98 millimeters of rainfall, it was over 24 hours, not within an hour. “By the evidence of data, there is no cloudburst event that happened in Pakistan in 2025,” Zaigham concluded.
Zaigham pointed to the 2010 floods as a significant event that marked the beginning of a series of extreme weather events in Pakistan. “The 2010 floods was the first major event after a long time which triggered massive destruction in Pakistan,” he said. He also mentioned the 2015 Chitral incident as the last recorded cloudburst event in Pakistan, which caused massive flash floods and riverine floods. “If you see previously, there were no vigorous events happened in Pakistan. So you can say that 2010 floods was the first major event after a long time which triggered massive destruction in Pakistan, but after that, it was in 2015, and so on, we have a series of destruction due to the monsoon and other extreme events in Pakistan due to climate change,” he said.
In conclusion, while Pakistan has experienced severe weather events this monsoon season, the PMD has confirmed that there have been no cloudburst events in the country in 2025, as of August 21, 2025. The department has emphasized the need for accurate reporting and understanding of weather phenomena to mitigate the impact of such events.