Dust storm, rain hit city

LAHORE, April 15: A mild dust storm, accompanied by light rain, lashed the city on Friday night. The velocity of the storm was 55km per hour and the local Met office reported similar weather conditions in northern parts of the province. Earlier, a brief drizzle around noon made the weather pleasant and prevented the temperature from rising. The Met office also reported scattered rain and thunderstorm in Rawalpindi and Gujranwala divisions, North East Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. The drizzle in Lahore was coupled with a strong wind. It was brief but it kept the temperature lower than the normal in this part of April. It remained partly cloudy afterwards. The Met office said the rain was the beginning of a new spell of showers that would lash most parts of the country in the next around three days because of a fresh westerly wave which lay over upper pa rts of the country with its trough extending up to Sindh. It said scattered rain was expected over Balochistan from Friday to Saturday. Rain with thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds was likely in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir on Saturday and Sunday. The weather system may persist in upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir till Tuesday. Isolated rain is also expected over upper Sindh on Saturday.There is a possibility of hailstorm and dust storm in sub-mountainous areas of the country which could harm fruit. Wheat farmers in the plains are also advised to take precautionary measures accordingly during this spell. The local Met office has forecast partly cloudy weather with chances of a dust-thunderstorm and rain in Lahore in the next 24 hours. A moderate thunderstorm and rain with heavy fall at isolated places are likely to occur over upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, north Punjab and Kas hmir. Scattered thunderstorm and rain may also occur over Balochistan, lower Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, south Punjab, upper Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan. On Friday, Kohat received 14mm of rain, Lower Dir, Parachinar and Dera Ismail Khan 8mm each, Dir 5mm, Khuzdar and Peshawar 3mm each, Kalat, Chitral and Murree 2mm each, Mohenjo Daro, Larkana, Rohri, Quetta, Drosh, Kalam and Mangla 1mm (each).