LAHORE: Most plains areas of Punjab and upper Sindh remained under the grip of dense fog and severe cold on Sunday, and the Met department said there is no immediate relief from the current prolonged cold wave.

Sun shone over Lahore dimly for some time. But as it began to lose strength in the afternoon, ice cold wind quickly overcame the somewhat warmth it had given to the city. The cold wind forced people to immediately take refuge in their warm clothes, and indoors.

Other cities in the plains of Punjab did not have the opportunity of seeing sun even for a while. Fog continued to keep day’s maximum temperatures closer (lower) to the previous night’s minimum temperatures, creating immense cold.

The minimum temperatures in Chakwal was zero degree C. Kot Addu recorded 2.8 degrees C, Noor Pur Thal 3, Sargodha 3.5, Kasur 4.6, Dera Ghazi Khan, Faisalabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Lahore, and Bahawalnagar 5, Toba Tek Singh 5.2, Jhang 5.5, Jhelum 5.6, Sahiwal 5.7.

The maximum temperature in Faisalabad was 7.7, Hafizabad 8.2, Jhang 8.2, Kot Addu 9.2, Khanewal 9.7, Chakwal, Bahwalnagar and Dera Ghazi Khan 10, Multan 10.7, Lahore 11, Gujranwala 12.3, Jhelum 12.8.

Minimum temperatures in Skardu further dropped from Saturday’s -18 to -21 degrees C. It was followed by Gupis, Bagrote -12, Astore -11, Gilgit -7, Kalam and Kalat -5.

The Met department said dense fog is likely to prevail in Islamabad, most plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh while in few districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during Sunday night and on Monday morning. Cold and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country, and very cold in the upper areas.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2019