More rains likely from today

LAHORE: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab Director General Flight-Lt (retd) Imran Qureshi has said that according to the Meteorological Department, more rains are expected from March 28 to 31 with strong winds and thunderstorms.

He said that westerly winds will enter the western parts of the country on Tuesday and will remain in the country till March 31. He said that strong winds and thundershowers could be witnessed from March 28 to 31 in Lahore, Islamabad, Murree, Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Khushab, Mianwali, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Gujarat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Narowal, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, DG Khan, Rajanpur, Bhakar, Layyah, Multan, Sahiwal, Okara, Pakpattan, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan.

Meanwhile, heavy rain and hail are expected at some places. He said that there is a risk of severe damage to standing crops (especially wheat) and weak infrastructure due to strong winds/hailstorms.

Farmers should cultivate crops keeping in view the weather forecast. DG PDMA issued an alert by saying that there is a risk of flooding in the hilly areas of DG Khan and local rivers of Islamabad/Rawalpindi due to heavy rains from March 28 to 31.

Meanwhile, low-lying areas in Lahore, Islamabad/Rawalpindi may be inundated due to heavy rain. In the alert issued by the PDMA, it is stated that there will be a risk of snowfall and landslides in Murree and there is also a possibility of a possible drop in the day temperature during rains.

Spokesperson PDMA M Tasawwar Chaudhry, while talking about the alert issued, has appealed to the citizens that citizens, travellers and tourists should avoid unnecessary travel in bad weather and call PDMA's helpline 1129 for emergency assistance.

Meanwhile, partly cloudy weather was observed in the city here on Monday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours. Met officials said a westerly wave was likely to enter western parts of the country from 28th, likely to grip upper & central parts on March 29 and likely to persist upper parts of the country till March 31.

They predicted that mainly dry/partly cloudy weather was expected in most parts of the country. However, rain-thunderstorm was expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Kashmir and Balochistan. Rainfall was recorded at Parachinar, Murree and Rawalakot only.

Monday’s highest maximum temperature was recorded at Shaheed Benazirabad, Sakrand, Hyderabad, Mithi and Tando Jam where mercury reached 36°C while in Lahore it was 28°C and minimum was 14.3°C.