LAHORE: The persisting westerly wave that grew stronger gave widespread rain in the country, including Sindh and Lahore, on Wednesday and the Met department said the same weather conditions would prevail during the next 24 hours.

Rain started in Lahore in the afternoon and was continuing with brief intervals till the filing of this report at night, hampering smooth flow of traffic and disrupting power supply in many localities.

The Met department reported heavy rain in some Sindh and Balochistan cities. Moenjodero recorded 50mm of rain, Larkana 41, Rohri, Jacobabad 30, Sukkur 24, Dadu 19, Padidan 7, Khuzdar 45, Lasbella 39, Pasni 28, Turbat 24, Sibbi 21, Kalat 19, Gawadar 16, Jiwani 15, Ormara, Barkhan 13, Zhob 12, Quetta (Sheikh Manda 11, Samungli 15), Dalbandin 10, Panjgur 06 and Nokkundi 02.

Parachinar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 28mm, Bannu 24, Peshawar (City 21, Airport 16), Cherat 13, Dir (Upper 10, Lower 8), Risalpur, Kalam, Malamjabba 8, Mirkhani 7, Kakul 6, Chitral 5, Dera Ismael Khan, Kohat Pattan, Saidu Sharif 4, Balakot 3, Khanpur in Punjab received 26mm, Rahim Yar Khan 21, Bahawalpur (Airport 16, City 13), Dera Ghazi Khan 12, Kot Addu 9, Jhang, Layyah 8, Joharabad 7, Khanwal, Bahawalnager, Chakwal, Multan 5, Bhakkar, Mangla 4, Islamabad and Rawalpindi 4, Murree, Lahore, Kamra, Hafizabad and Faisalabad 02, Kasur, Sahiwal, Noorpurthal, Toba Tek Singh, Jhelum 01, Kalam received 4 inch of snow and Malamjabba 3.

The Met department expected widespread rain/thunderstorm (with scattered heavy falls) with snowfall over hills in Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper Sindh, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, while at scattered places in northeast Balochistan during Wednesday night.

Heavy falls may trigger landslides in Malakand and Hazara divisions, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir and may cause flash flooding in local nullah/riverine of Balochistan and hill torrents of DG Khan division.

More widespread rain/thunderstorm (with snowfall over hills) is expected in Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore divisions, Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, while at scattered places in Malakand, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Sargodha and Faisalabad divisions on Thursday.

Cold and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2019