LAHORE: At last it rained in upper Punjab cities, including Lahore, on Friday, dropping temperatures to many degrees to the much relief of people.

Rain in Lahore was accompanied by strong winds. It started after dark clouds covered the city, giving people a fine morning after so many days of harsh weather.

Rain was heavier in the southern parts than in the rest of the city, giving a fresh look to plants and trees. It inundated low-lying areas in localities like Johar Town.

The maximum temperature was 31 degrees Celsius and the Met department recorded 5mm of rain at the airport and 21mm at its Jail Road observatory.

It said rain-thunderstorm (with isolated heavy falls) that was accompanied by gusty winds occurred at scattered places in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan because of monsoon currents and a westerly wave.

Rawalpindi’s Shamsabad area recorded 86mm of rain and Chaklala 70, Islamabad’s Bokra 85, Golra 50, Zero Point 39 and Saidpur 23), Sialkot City 78, Mandi Bahauddin 76, Mangla 39, Jhelum 37, Murree 25, Gujrat 22, Chakwal, Kasur 16, Gujranwala 13, Kamra 12, Mianwali 6, Rawalakot 38, Kotli 35, Muzffarabad 11, Garhi Dupatta 7, Kakul 29, Risalpur 24, Dir 10, Balakot, Kohat 8, Peshawar, Cherat 6, Bagrote 9 and Hunza 6.

The Met department forecast mainly hot and humid weather in most parts of the country in the next 24 hours. However, rain-thunderstorm is expected at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan divisions, Islamabad, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2017