LAHORE: Dust-thunderstorm and rain with gusty winds at scattered places in Punjab and upper parts of the country abated the severe heat wave on Wednesday.

Temperatures lowered to some extent in Sindh also, but it still remained very hot there.

Rain in Lahore was coupled with strong winds that swept away from the city heat that had accumulated for the past many days. The maximum temperature dropped from Tuesday’s 44 degrees Celsius to 33 degrees, much to the relief of people.

The Met department said maximum temperature also dropped by seven to 10 degrees C in most cities due to the rain and windstorm caused by a westerly wave that would persist till Friday.

Sahiwal received 29mm of rain, Kasur 25, Toba Tek Singh 20, Okara 19, Bhakkar 15, Faisalabad 12, Murree 11, Mangla 10, Lahore 10, Chakwal 9, Sargodha 7, Noorpur Thal and Jhelum 5, Rawalpindi 4, Jhang 2, Islamabad 1, Rawalakot 13, Kotli 8, Garhi Dupatta 7, Muzaffarabad 1, Malamjabba 10, Dir 7, Pattan 4, Kalam 3, Kakul 2, Karachi 1.

Sibbi recorded maximum temperature of 50 degrees C, Dadu 46, Shaheed Benazirabad 45, Padidan 44, Jacobabad, Turbat, Larkana, Sukkur, Rohri and Rahim Yar Khan 43.

Dust-thunderstorm/rain with gusty winds is expected at scattered places in Multan, Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha divisions and Kashmir, and at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Zhob divisions, Fata, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan in the next 24 hours.

Hot and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2017