LAHORE: Upper parts of the country, Punjab and north Balochistan are expected to have another round of five-day rains that are likely to be heavy at places and might cause landslides in Hazara division and Azad Kashmir.

According to the Met Office, there are chances of snowfall over the mountains in Gilgit-Baltistan and hailstorms at isolated places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, north Balochistan and upper Sindh during the period.

According to its report released on Tuesday, a shallow westerly trough over the region is pulling cold air from the northwest into the country. This westerly trough is likely to intensify during the next few days, and is likely to interact with the moist monsoon currents penetrating northeast and southeast Pakistan, causing moderate to heavy rainfall with thunderstorms at scattered places of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore and Faisalabad), Islamabad, Sindh, isolated places of Balochistan and Kashmir from Wednesday (today) to Sunday. Average temperatures are likely to drop below normal in most parts of the country during this week.

Scattered wind-thunderstorm/rain is also expected in all districts of DG Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal from Wednesday (today) evening to Saturday.

Heavy rains may trigger landslides in districts of Malakand, Hazara, Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir during the next four to five days, the Met Department says, advising farmers to take precautionary measures during the forecast period.

On Tuesday, Islamabad received 37mm of rain, Rawalpindi (Shamsabad 29, Chaklala 27), Murree 19, Sialkot 13, Jhelum 6, Gujrat, Narowal 5, Mangla 2, Chakwal and Lahore (city) traces, Garhi Dupatta 35, Muzaffarabad 26, Kotli 25, Rawalakot 9, Pattan 30, Takhtbai 20, Malam Jabba, Kakul 13, Saidu Sharif 12, Dir 8, Parachinar 5, Besham 4, Kalam, Mirkhani 3, Peshawar, Balakot 1, Bagrote 5, Astore 4, Bunji 3mm.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2019