ISLAMABAD: The westerly wave entering the country is likely to bring rain to Central and Upper Pakistan including the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and Galiyat on Saturday which may continue up to Monday morning.

During this period, rain-thunderstorm along with snow over the hills is expected at scattered places in the Potohar region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Quetta, Zhob and Kalat divisions.

The satellite imagery at the website of the Met office shows an unusual thick cluster of clouds not only in the North West direction but South West also.

“These phenomenal developments have brought heavy rains in the Gulf countries mainly Eastern Saudi Arabia, UAE and Southern Iran, where the temperature has dropped due to the arrival of cold winds from Europe,” said an official of the met office. He, however, said the warm winds accompanying the clouds from the Middle East have reduced the intensity of cold in our region.

The mercury level is expected to drop by the weekend. The minimum temperature in Islamabad was around 12 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature in the Federal Capital on Friday was 26C.

Similarly, the rainfall in the region will be considerably above normal after weekend precipitation.

Though the country faced deficit rainfall during November and December but the downpour in January and early February increased the accumulated winter rainfall by 14pc.

The average winter rainfall in the country has been around 47mm, while it has been around 52mm this year.

The National Agro-met Centre of the Met office has suggested that farmers mainly in the Rawalpindi division will significantly benefit from the upcoming rains for the wheat crops as it was a Barani (rainfed) area.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2017