ISLAMABAD: Pleasant weather conditions will continue over central and north Punjab and most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a westerly wave is affecting most of the country.

The Met Office has said that dust-thunderstorms and rain with isolated hailstorms are expected in scattered areas of KP and the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, with heavy rainfall at some areas in the Makran, Kalat, Zhob and D.G. Khan divisions early Sunday.

Cloudy weather with a few chances of dust-thunderstorms with light rain are also expected along the Sindh-Makran coast, including in Karachi.

Satellite imagery from the Met Office website shows several pockets of clouds were entering the country from northern Iran around the Caspian Sea as well as southern Iran, from the Persian Gulf region.

Clouds coming from the northern region will affect KP and Punjab, and were accompanied by cool winds. The southern pattern will bring isolated rainfall to parts of Balochistan and Sindh. The system in Balochistan and Sindh will not lower temperatures significantly compared to the impact of rain in the north of the country.

The lower temperature has helped maintain the water level in Islamabad’s two main reservoirs.

“Cloudy weather reduces water evaporation, therefore the water level is less this year compared to the average water storage conditions in May,” an official from the Punjab Irrigation Department said.

The water level in Rawal Lake was 1,750.5 feet, just 1.5ft below maximum capacity. The water level in Simly Lake reached 2,290ft, which is 30ft above the water level at this time last year. The maximum capacity of Simly Lake is 2,315ft.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2019