LAHORE : Scattered rain followed by partly cloudy weather was observed in the city here on Saturday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.
The city also witnessed thunderstorm and scattered rain on the evening of Saturday. Following the rain and cloudy weather, all the concerned departments especially Wasa's field staff came in the field to handle the situation. MD Wasa also started monitoring of the city and directed officers to ensure readiness.
Met officials warned that moderate to heavy rainfall may trigger landslides in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan and may affect the vulnerable points on March 30. Windstorm/hailstorm and lightning may damage standing crops, loose structures like electric poles, vehicles and solar panels etc. Tourists and farmers are advised to remain cautious during the wet period.
In Lahore, the rain started early morning and continued for a few hours at scattered places. City also witnessed thunder and blowing winds before the rain.
Met officials said a westerly wave was affecting western and upper parts of the country and was likely to persist in upper parts till March 31 (today).
They predicted that intermittent rain-windstorm/thunderstorm (snowfall over mountains) was expected in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, northeastern Punjab, Islamabad while hailstorm was also likely during forecast period. Heavy falls was expected at isolated places in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir and dust storm/dust raising winds were likely in southern parts of the country.
Rainfall was also observed at several cities while snowfall was witnessed at Kalam only. Saturday’s highest maximum temperature was recorded at Mithi where mercury reached 39°C while in Lahore it was 28.2°C and minimum was 19°C.