KARACHI, Jan 29: Weather on Thursday turned pleasant following a light rain, which started around 12 noon and continued almost throughout the day, across the metropolis, causing power failures and fluctuations in some localities.

It was the second spell of rain in January, as the city had received its first winter showers on Jan 20, with temperature falling to 15.5 degrees Centigrade.

Meteorological department officials said: "Today, in the morning, the minimum temperature was recorded at 14.5 degrees Celsius and as the cold winds did not blow during the day, it went up to 24 degrees Celsius. If winds had blown, the temperature could have dropped further. However, the level of humidity, or moisture, in the air, remained at 73 per cent."

The officials said that on an average, the city received 2.9 millimetres of rain on Thursday, which continued till late night.The Met office recorded 6 millimetre rain at Masroor Base, 2mm at Faisal Base, 3.7mm at Airport observatory, 1.8mm at University Road, 2.2mm at Garden, 1.8mm at North Karachi and 3mm at Baldia Town observatory.

The chief meteorologist at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, Arif Mehmood, told Dawn that a low pressure system from west was responsible for rains in the city and other areas of the country.

"The system will continue to exist till Friday afternoon in almost all parts of the country. Parts of Sindh, including Karachi, and Balochistan province, besides other parts of the country, will continue to receive light rain till Friday afternoon," he predicted.

According to a Met Office forecast, the minimum temperature on Friday will range between 11 degrees Centigrade and 14 degrees Centigrade. Besides, the people complained power failures and fluctuations in their respective areas during the rain.

A resident of Model Colony said: "Since the rain began to fall, power got cut around 11am in the morning. It was restored after a lapse of seven hours." A resident of KDA's overseas bungalows in Gulistan-i-Jauhar complained about power fluctuation since the morning. "Some of my home appliances had gone out of order due to this fluctuation. Today, with the rain pouring, power fluctuation has increased."

Calling from Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block-15, a resident said that power supply in his area was discontinued around 7.30pm and restored around 9pm. However, the KESC officials claimed that there was no power breakdown anywhere in the metropolis.