LAHORE, April 19: Several cities in the Punjab, including Lahore, the NWFP and the Northern Areas received rain on Saturday.

The rain dropped temperature even in those Punjab cities that did not have rain. Weather experts and agriculturists termed the rain harmful to the standing crops mainly wheat.

It was heavy in Malam Jabba (65mm), Murree (41mm), and Kakul (40mm).

The Met office said the rain was caused by a westerly system which dropped the temperature in the plains of the Punjab where it should be above 40 degrees C at the moment to help mature the standing wheat crop. A rise in the temperature will also help melt snow on hills to supply the much needed water to the reservoirs, they said.

Lahore received light rain in the morning but it remained cloudy to partly cloudy throughout the day. The Met office said the city received 1mm of rain but its maximum temperature dropped from Friday’s 36.4 degrees C to 31.4 degrees C.

It reported rain in Balakot 24mm, Risalpur and Muzaffarabad 21mm, Astore 20mm, Dir 17mm, Skardu 11mm, Sialkot 9mm and Islamabad 3mm.

The maximum temperature in Islamabad was 26.8 degrees C, Multan 34.2, Bahawalnagar 30, Sialkot 29.6, Faisalabad 32, Jhelum 30.2, Rahim Yar Khan 35.4, Murree 13, Mandi Bahauddin 30.7, Gilgit 17 and Muzaffarabad 19.2 degrees C.

The Met office has predicted chances of more rain in the upper NWFP, the Northern Areas, and Rawalpindi and Gujranwala divisions during the next 24 hours. There were chances of light rain in Lahore.