Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Rawalpindi
The month long dry spell broke in upper parts of the country late Sunday night after many areas received the first winter rainfall with thunders while snow fell over the hills.
Due to this sudden weather change the day temperatures have fallen by up to 7 degree centigrade in Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, D.I Khan, Hazara, Malakand, Peshawar and Kohat divisions during the last 24 hours.
The rain has been recorded in Dir 32 mm, Rawlakot 24 mm, Abbotabad 21mm, Kotli 20 mm, Mangla 19 mm, Chitral 17 mm, Islamabad 15 mm, Peshawar 15 mm, Rawalpindi 13 mm, Muzaffarabad 12 mm, Sialkot 10 mm, Murree 9 mm and Kohat 9 mm, during the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile some areas of Malakand division also received the first snowfall of the winter season. According to Met office analysis a continental wave is likely to prevail during the next few days so dry weather would prevail in most parts of the country.
The drivers on the Motorway and highways needs to be extra careful as the fog is expected to become dense in plain areas of the Punjab. However, the rainfall is a blessing for the farmers of some rain fed (barani) areas, as it would subside the emerging drought conditions of the soil.
Due to the prolonged dry spell and deficient rainfall in the recent monsoon season, the Barani areas were drying up rapidly, and the low soil moisture was no longer supportive for the sowing of wheat crops.
The current scattered rainfall would improve the sowing conditions for various crops, especially in the Barani-areas of Punjab. The countrys barani areas include Attock, Mianwali, Khushab, Chakwal, Jhelum and Mandi Bahauddin.
October and November are considered the driest months of the year in Pakistan, but this October has remained exceptionally dry. For example Rawalpind’s normal rainfall during October is 30 millimetre (mm), but actually it only received 1 mm of rain.
Similarly, Islamabad receives 34 mm during October, but actually it received only 12 mm of rain prior to the current rainfall. The normal mean rainfalls for November in Rawalpindi and Islamabad are 16 mm and 12 mm respectively.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
