19 June 2004	Saturday	30 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

LAHORE, June 18: The provincial metropolis and several other cities in the Punjab, the NWFP and the Northern Areas received moderate to heavy rain early on Friday.

It was the first pre-monsoon rain in Lahore, which was heavy in the main city. Showers also fell on areas around the airport, breaking the spell of extremely hot and humid weather.

The rain was accompanied with a strong windstorm having a maximum gust of 61km per hour at 5.30am. Many streets in the city were inundated and water could not be cleared off at Islamia Park, Chauburji Quarters and on the Allama Iqbal Road till afternoon.

Surprisingly, there was no water on the Hall Road, The Mall, the Thornton Road, the College Road, New and Old Anarkali and Lakshmi Chowk because of the recent desilting of the central drain.

Power breakdowns continued, especially during the wind. It was restored after several hours in many areas. By 5pm, the local meteorological office recorded 49mm of rain at its Jail Road observatory, 23mm at Township, 12mm at Jallo and 5mm at the airport.

The maximum temperature was 33.7 degrees C and the minimum 22.5 degrees C with 87 per cent humidity in the morning and 57 per cent in the evening. The Met office said the rain was caused by moisture from the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the seasonal low over the southern Punjab and adjoining Sindh.

It reported widespread rain of light to moderate intensity with isolated heavy falls over the upper catchments of the Jhelum and Chenab, along with the Gujranwala division.

Scattered rain of moderate intensity was also recorded in the Rawalpindi and Lahore divisions, along with upper catchments of the Ravi and the Sargodha division. In Islamabad, the Met office recorded 90mm of rain at Dhamial, 43mm at Zero Point, 28mm at Saidpur, 17mm at the airport and 15mm at Shamshabad.

It said Kohat received 30mm of rain, Parachinar and Tarbela 23mm each, Kallar 20mm, Shinkiari 19mm, Kotli 17mm, Marala 16mm, Sohawa 15mm, Jhelum 12mm, Palku, Murree and Besham 10mm each, Mangla 8mm, Balakot 6mm, Rahwali 5mm, Domel (Azad Kashmir) 4mm, Chitral, Attock and Shakargarh 2mm each, and Chillas, Cherat, Kakul 1mm each.

The Flood Forecasting Division has predicted more light to moderate rain over the upper catchments of the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej, along with north and northeastern Punjab.