LAHORE: Several cities in Punjab and upper parts of the country, including Lahore, received rain on Thursday that dropped maximum temperatures by six to 10 degrees C.

Rain in southern localities of Lahore was heavier than in the rest of the city. It inundated low-lying areas and hampered smooth flow of traffic.

Maximum temperature dropped from Wednesday’s 33 degrees C to 31.2 degree C.

The Met Office also reported rain in a number of other cities.

Rawalakot received 44mm rain, Bhakkar 42mm, Kohat 40mm, Kakul and Toba Tek Singh 37mm(each), Bannu 29mm, Islamabad Zero Point 27mm, Chakwal 26mm, Sahiwal, Dera Ismail Khan and Dir 24mm(each), Balakot and Mangla 20mm(each), Saidu Sharif and Peshawar city 17mm(each), Shorkot and Lahore city 16mm(each), Muzaffarabad 15mm, Lahore Airport, Cherat and Garhi Dupatta 12mm(each), Gujranwala 10mm, Hunza 9mm, Parachinar and Islamabad Airport 8mm (each), Lower Dir and Bunji 7mm (each), Drosh and Peshawar Airport 5mm (each), Mirkhani, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujrat 4mm (each), Murree, Gupis and Kotli 3mm (each).

The Met Office forecast partly cloudy to cloudy weather in Lahore in the next 24 hours with chances of more rain.

Scattered thundershowers with isolated heavy fall were expected over Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Rawalpindi divisions, along with Kashmir and southeast Sindh.

Scattered thundershowers were also expected over Gilgit-Baltistan, Malakand, Hazara, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kalat and Bahawalpur divisions.

Published in Dawn, July 18th , 2014