LAHORE: The Met Office predicts widespread rain/thunderstorm (with snowfall over hills) accompanied by windstorm is expected in Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala divisions, Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan while rain at isolated places in Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Malakand, Mardan, Peshawar and Kohat divisions in the next 24 hours.

Cold and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.

The strong westerly wave on Saturday was behind the widespread rain and snow over major parts of the country, mainly focusing Balochistan, burying Ziarat under a layer of 2.5ft snow. It continued raining intermittently through the day, turning the weather cold and roads slippery.

The Met Office said the westerly wave affected upper, western and southern parts of the country and it might persist till Sunday.

On Saturday, Samungli in Balochistan received 123mm rain, Sheik Manda 44, Sibbi 53, Khuzdar, Dalbandin 38, Barkhan 37, Kalat 34, Lasbella 18, Turbat, Panjgur 13, Zhob 9, Nokkundi 8, Jiwani and Ormara 1mm. In Sindh, Jaccobabad received 17mm, Moenjodaro 13, Larkana 11, Rohri, Padidan 8, Sukkur 7, Shaheed Benzairbad 6, and Tando Jam received 2mm rain.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Malam Jabba had 31mm of rain, Dir 27, Bannu 26, Parachinar, Lower Dir 23, Cherat 18, Kakul 17, Dera Ismail Khan 14, Mirkhani 13, Saidu Sharif 11, Balakot 10, Peshawar, Pattan 7, Drosh, Chitral 5, Kalam 4. Islamabad received 8mm, Murree 25, Bhakkar 23, Kot Addu 19, Layyah 15, Kamra 13, Rawalpindi (Shamsbad 8, Chaklala 6) Noorpur Thal and Sialkot 8, Joarabad and Dera Ghazi Khan 7, Chakwal and Khanpur 6, Rahim Yar Khan, Khanewal, Multan 5, Jhelum, Sargodha, Mangla, Bahawalpur and Jhang 4mm, Rawalakot in Azad Kashmir recorded 31mm, Garhi Dupatta 22, Muzaffarabad 17, Kotli 15, Skardu 3, Astore 2, Bagrot, Gupis 1mm.

Ziarat received 2.5 feet of snow, Murree 11 inches, Kalam 4 inches and Malam Jabba 2 inches.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2019