QUETTA: Heavy rain and snowfall lashed Quetta and northern parts of Balochistan, forcing the mercury to take a nosedive on Tuesday.

The atmosphere turned cold with the return of winter and forced people to use warm dresses.

Quetta and other parts of the province received heavy rain on Monday night and chilly Siberian winds kept blowing all day on Tuesday, taking the mercury down to eight degrees below zero. It forced most people to remain indoors.

However, many people came out of their homes to enjoy snowfall.

Snowfall also lashed parts of northern Balochistan, including Ziarat, Qila Saifullah, Pishin, Chaman, Mastung and Kalat.

Due to heavy snowfall traffic between Quetta and the border town of Chaman was affected at the Khojak Pass.

Chilling winds raised the demand for wood and coal.

The Met Office has forecast more snowfall and rain for Quetta and parts of northern and central Balochistan during the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the weather in Karachi also turned chilly because of cold winds from Quetta after the fresh snowfall.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play