LAHORE, July 13: Rain and storms lashed many cities and towns in Punjab on Friday morning, reducing the intensity of muggy weather. Since Lahore was the last city covered by the outer periphery of the westerly weather system, it received only 5mm of rain along with winds gusting up to 70km an hour.

National Flood Forecasting Division chief Shaukat Awan said n Islamabad rain was accompanied by winds with speeds of 161km an hour. In Gujranwala the wind velocity was 120km an hour.

He said Mianwali received 50mm of rain before 8am.

The wave which moved away from Punjab in the afternoon also generated rain in the NWFP and the Northern Areas. Daggar received 63mm of rain, Jauharabad 32mm, Sargodha and Balakot 30mm each, Jassar (the river Ravi) 29mm, Saidu Sharif 17mm, Sialkot and Kotli 16mm each, Haripur 12mm, Dir 11mm and Kasur 10mm.

Mr Awan said the westerly wave persisted over Azad Kashmir and it was likely to generate more rain there. Met office reported that Sialkot received 15mm of rain, Balakot 10mm, Jhelum and Hunza 5mm, and Faisalabad 4mm. It said there were chances of scattered rains over parts of Punjab during the next 24 hours.—Correspondent