Claim: A video shows dark grey clouds looming over the shores of Karachi, Pakistan as the city expects severe thunderstorms.
Fact: The video is, in fact, from 2021 when Hurricane Olaf struck the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico.
On 14 July 2022, Soch Fact Check received a WhatsApp forwarded chain message containing a video of a storm brewing near a seashore with the caption, “کراچی ہاکس بے ساحل سے دیکھے جانے والا تازہ ترین منظر [Karachi or latest view from the Hawkesbay beach].”
The clip shows a beach — identified as Hawkesbay, or Hawke’s Bay — with a chair on the sand, some small buildings in the background, and dark ominous thunderclouds heading towards the shoreline.
The video comes amid a forecast of severe rains and thunderstorms in Karachi and other parts of southern Sindh from 14 July to 18 July, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
Vigorous #Monsoon activity during the week
Monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal are continuously penetrating in upper and central parts of the country, while another strong monsoon low pressure area (LPA) is likely to approach Sindh on 14th July (Thursday). #KarachiRain pic.twitter.com/LZnqfAe9W1
— Pak Met Department محکمہ موسمیات (@pmdgov) July 12, 2022
The PMD warned of “vigorous monsoon activity during the week”, adding that “another strong monsoon low pressure area (LPA) is likely to approach Sindh on 14th July (Thursday)”.
Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman stated on Twitter that Sindh and Balochistan are “going [through] very high percentages of rainfall over a 30 year average”.
Monsoon updates from PMD: Sindh and Balochistan going thru very high percentages of rainfall over a 30 year average. See last column. pic.twitter.com/EMxoVfwdvK
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) July 9, 2022
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check used screenshots from the video to carry out a Google Reverse Image Search and TinEye Reverse Image Search. The search led us to a 9 September 2021 clip on TikTok by user adrianreal07, archived here, which includes the hashtags #loscabos, #huracan, #lluvia, #odile, and #olaf, as well as a Facebook video from 10 September 2021.
We enhanced the search results with keywords “hurricane” and “olaf” and found an article titled, “Prevén que ‘Olaf’ toque tierra por la noche en Baja California Sur [‘Olaf’ predicted to make landfall at night in Baja California Sur],” by one of Mexico’s daily newspapers, La Jornada.
Emiten alerta roja por huracán #Olaf en Baja California Sur. Info https://t.co/daBhWtnCib pic.twitter.com/zJjTytIHno
— La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) September 9, 2021
The article includes a tweet containing the same video as is now spreading on social media in Pakistan with the claim that it shows a thunderstorm brewing near a Karachi beach.
In September 2021, Hurricane Olaf — a Category 2 Pacific hurricane — made landfall in Baja California Peninsula in Mexico.
The video in question, therefore, does not depict a thunderstorm brewing near a Karachi beach but the September 2021 hurricane in Baja California Peninsula in Mexico.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the two-day period from 13 July using the following search terms:
- “hawksbay”
- “ہاکس بے”
- “ھاکس بے”
The first search term turned up 63 Facebook posts that gained over 10,600 interactions and three Instagram posts with more than 5,200 interactions. The second and third search terms, on the other hand, turned up 3,732 interactions across 108 posts and 135 interactions across seven posts.
Videos posted by Facebook page ‘People Magazine Pakistan’ and user ‘Hassaan yousuf zai’ were watched more than 17,000 and 4,300 times, respectively. On Instagram, the same clip posted by @sundaytimes, @gt_magazine, @peoplemagazinepakistan, and @centrestage__ was played over 114,400 times, 16,100 times, 7,700 times, and 1,500 times, respectively.
Conclusion: The viral video is actually from September 2021 when Mexico was hit by Hurricane Olaf, a Category 2 Pacific hurricane. It does not show a storm brewing in Karachi.