LAHORE, Jan 29: Several parts of the country received light rain and snow on Thursday. Lahore received intermittent drizzle or light rain almost the whole day that dropped the day's maximum temperature from Wednesday's 19.3C to 16.4 degrees C.

The rain caused repeated power breakdowns in many localities that hampered work in offices and at shopping centres. According to the local Met office, Quetta received light snowfall for the first time during the current winter. Many areas in the Northern Areas and the NWFP also received snowfall, keeping temperatures low almost everywhere in the country.

This is the third westerly system giving rain in the country during the last over 10 days. The Met office expected fairly widespread thunderstorm and rain with snowfall over the hills in many parts of the NWFP, the Northern Areas and in Balochistan during the next 24 hours.

Scattered light rain was also expected in Lahore and other cities of the Punjab. The Met office reported that Kalam received 27mm of rain, Dalbadin 20mm, Kalam 17mm, Barkhan 13mm, Zhob and Faisalabad 8mm each, Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan 6mm each, Bahawalpur and Sibbi 5mm each, Nokundi and Parachinar 4mm each, Karachi and Dera Ghazi Khan 3mm each, Jacobabad 2mm, and Multan and Khanpur 1mm each.