LAHORE: The city saw high particulate matter in the air on Sunday morning with murky air, which by the evening turned into a full-fledged dust storm.

According to the Meteorological Department (Lahore airport), the northwesterly winds had been blowing at 46.1 miles per hour. The department, however, said that the winds were headed towards the east.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of 171 (Unhealthy) prevailed in the first half of the day as it appeared that the winds blew from the southwest. Satellite data suggested that AQI (particulate matter) in some Balochistan cities, including Quetta, was unusually high, while later the wind was determined to be blowing from the northwest.

On March 29, the Met Department had predicted that a westerly weather system would enter from Balochistan and grip the upper parts of the country. Under the influence of this system in Punjab, there would be scattered rain, thunderstorm with gusty winds and hailstorms in some parts in the south (Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Okara, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Khanpur, Lodhran, Layyah, Muzaffargarh and Vehari) on Monday and Tuesday.

At the same time, there was forecast of widespread rain and thunderstorm (with isolated heavy falls) and a few hailstorms in upper Punjab (Lahore, Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab, Bhakkar, Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Hafizabad and Narowal) from Monday to Wednesday.

On April 5, the Met Department forecast that continental weather (characterised by hot summers, cold winters and little rainfall -- typical of the interior of a continent) prevailed over most parts of the country, and while mainly dry weather was expected in most parts, rain, wind and thunderstorm was expected in isolated parts across the country.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2020