LAHORE, July 8: Cities in the central and northern Punjab received on Sunday their first monsoon rain whereas only traces of it were the share of Lahore.

Strong wind and dark clouds in the morning gave hope of rain. But clouds cleared after generating only a drizzle in some localities. The cloudy to partly-cloudy and windy weather conditions kept the temperatures low and made the enhanced humidity bearable.

The maximum temperature was 35.2 degrees Celsius and the minimum last (Saturday) night 26.6 degrees C, with 78 per cent humidity in the morning and 54 per cent in the evening.

The Met office said the combination of the trough of the westerly wave over northern parts of the country and the moderate moist current from the Arabian Sea did however generate considerable rain in other cities in Punjab, bringing happiness to the rice growers.

Dera Ismail Khan received 76mm of rain, Risalpur and Jhang 53mm each, Faisalabad 51mm, Shorkot 39mm, Toba Tek Singh 38mm, Bhakkar 25mm, Multan and Okara 15mm each, Sargodha 12mm, Kotli 10mm, Mianwali and Garhi Dupatta 8mm each, Noorpur Thal and Bannu 7mm each, Joharabad, Kakul, Zhob and Mangla 5mm each, Astore 4mm, Dir, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin, Bahawalnagar, Muzaffarabad and Islamabad 1mm each.

The Met office expected thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Central and North Punjab and Kashmir in the next 24 hours. Isolated thunderstorm/rain was expected over South Punjab, Northeast Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.