ISLAMABAD: The high temperatures on Friday resulted in early pre-monsoon rains in various parts of the Potohar region while the Met Office had predicted strong, gusty currents in central Punjab because of the hot and humid conditions.

Northern Punjab, Hazara and some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa received the first of the pre-monsoon rains late on Friday which brought the temperature down and served as indicator of the monsoon rains as well.

“The high heat in the previous few weeks, especially in the plains of Punjab and Sindh has invited pre-monsoon rains much earlier this year,” said Dr Mohammad Hanif, who is spokesperson for the met office.

A clear sign that these were pre-monsoon showers was that the rains were accompanied by strong winds from the east and northeast. This is in sharp contrast to winter rains which arrive from the west and are not accompanied by strong winds.

The speed of the winds on Friday differed in various areas with 93kmph recorded in Chaklala and 65kmph recorded in H-8 and Zero Point.

It also rained more in the Red Zone, comparatively lesser in Zero Point and almost not at all in Rawalpindi.

“These are the usual trends for pre-monsoon rains and monsoon rains,” Dr Hanif explained.

He said pre-monsoon rains are the start of the great rainy season in the region.

“These are scattered and almost unpredictable. But monsoon systems are very strong and gigantic,” Dr Hanif said. “Due to its massive size, a monsoon system brings continuous rains which are spread over a huge area such as the whole of central Punjab at one time.”

The Met Office has said the average monsoon rainfall this year is likely to be 20pc higher than normal which could lead to floods in the rivers and flash floods in the hilly areas and even parts of Potohar.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2016