RAWALPINDI: Heavy rain and hailstorm in the twin cities on Friday morning brought relief from the hot and humid weather of the past four days, with the Met Office predicting more rain and hailstorms in the next 24 hours.

Heavy clouds overpowered the sun at 7am, and rain and hailstorm lashed the twin cities at 8am for an hour. The cool winds brought a pleasant change in the weather, and the temperature dropped to 28 degrees Celsius, while in the last four days, the daytime temperature had increased to 38 degrees Celsius.

The Met Office recorded 15mm of rain at Zero Point, 11mm at Saidpur, 8mm at Golra and 7mm at Bokra in Islamabad, while 11mm of rain was recorded at Kutchery, 14mm at Chaklala and 5mm in Shamsabad in Rawalpindi.

The Met Office official said a westerly wave was affecting the upper and central parts of the country and was likely to persist for the next two to three days.

He said rain, windstorms and thunderstorms were expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Upper and Central Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Isolated heavy falls and hailstorms are also expected during the period.

“Light rain, windstorms and thunderstorms are expected in a few places in north Balochistan, south Punjab, and upper Sindh. Hot and dry weather is likely in other parts of the country,” he said.

The highest maximum temperature recorded was in Jacobabad (48 degrees), Larkana (47 degrees) and Dadu (46 degrees). Meanwhile, many parts of Rawalpindi city, including Mohanpura, Raja Bazaar, Sadiqabad, Chaklala, Bostan Khan Road, and adjoining areas, witnessed an electricity shutdown on Friday.

The electricity went out in many areas and was restored soon after the rain stopped.

The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) imposed a rain emergency in the garrison city and activated its flood relief rooms in low-lying areas of the city on the directives of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Director General Kinza Murtaza.

Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf visited the low-lying area after rain and inspected the de-watering drive. The Wasa teams cleared the Committee Chowk Underpass and other parts of Murree Road and drained out the water with heavy machines.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2024