LAHORE: Badly affected by devastations caused by recent rains, upper parts of the country are bracing themselves for another spell of heavy rains forecast to begin from Thursday.

The Meteorological De­p­ar­t­ment said in a report on Tuesday that the fresh spell might continue from Thursday to Saturday. It could cause flash flooding in upper areas of Khyber Pakh­t­unkhwa (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar and Mar­dan), Fata, Rawalpindi division, Islamabad and Azad Kashmir on Thursday and Friday.

Incidents of landslides and avalanches in hilly areas of KP, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are highly likely during this period.

Hailstorms are expected in Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar and Mardan divisions of KP and Potohar region on Thursday and Friday.

The report said the new spell of downpours would be generated by a fresh westerly wave that is likely to enter northern Balochistan, KP and Fata on Wednesday. It is likely to spread over Punjab, KP, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir on Thursday. This weather system will be in full swing over upper KP, Fata, upper Punjab and Azad Kashmir on Thursday and Friday and its intensity is expected to subside on Saturday and Sunday.

For two days the system may generate widespread thu­n­der­shower in upper KP (Malakand, Hazara, Pes­hawar and Mardan divisions), Fata, Rawalpindi division, Islamabad and Azad Kashmir. Isolated heavy falls, with hailstorms, are likely in Malakand, Hazara and Rawalpindi divisions and Azad Kashmir.

D.I. Khan, Kohat, Bannu, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Quetta and Zhob divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan are likely to receive scattered rains.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2016