LAHORE: A day-long cloud cover and drizzle in the late afternoon put winter in full swing in the city on Friday, sharply dropping temperature.

The winter has been warm in Lahore and elsewhere in the plains of Punjab because of lack of rain which also gave a free chit to the ever-increasing pollution to torment people, causing or aggravating respiratory diseases among them.

Thick clouds continued to hang over the city, trapping the night cooling below. As a result, the day’s maximum temperature dropped to 16 degrees Celsius from Thursday’s 28 degrees Celsius. It rained but lightly in the late afternoon, only settling air pollution to some extent.

The Met Office said the westerly wave persisting over upper parts of the country gave 38mm of rain in Malam Jabba, Pattan received 32mm, Balakot 21, Saidu Sharif 20, Kalam 19, Lower Dir 16, Parachinar 13, Cherat 12, Kakul 11, Dir 10, Peshawar and Kohat 9, Risalpur, Mirkhani 5, Kotli 26, Rawalakot, Garhi Dupatta 24, Muzaffarabad 18, Mangla 22, Murree 21, Mandi Bahauddin 15, Islamabad 15, Jhelum 14, Gujrat 10, Rawalpindi 9 and Chakwal 6,

There was good amount of snowfall over the hills. Malam Jabba, Kalam and Neelum Valley recorded 2ft snow, and Murree, Gillyat, Kaghan and Naran 1ft of snow.

More intermittent rain-thunderstorm with snowfall over the hills is expected at scattered places in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Lahore divisions, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Cold and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.

Foggy conditions are likely to continue over plain areas of Punjab and Sindh.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2017