Cold wave persists

LAHORE:Partly cloudy and cold weather prevailed in the City here on Monday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.

Met officials said continental air was prevailing over most parts of the country while a shallow westerly trough was affecting Kashmir and adjoining areas, and moving eastwards. They predicted that mainly cold and dry weather was expected in most parts of the country while very cold in hilly areas during morning/night hours. Moderate to dense fog (in patches) was likely to persist at few plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during morning/night hours. Rainfall was recorded at several cities while snowfall was recorded at Malam Jabba, Kalam, Chitral, Drosh, Mirkhani and Murree.

Monday’s minimum temperature was recorded at Kalat where mercury dropped to -10°C while in Lahore it was 5.8°C and maximum was 14.5°C. Meanwhile, the average AQI of the city was 175, unhealthy, while the PM2.5 concentration was 17.9 times the World Health Organisation annual PM2.5 guideline value. The most polluted city localities included Pine Avenue (414), Phase8-DHA (307), US Consulate (282), Near Ada Plot, Raiwind Road (268), Askari 10 (262), Polo Ground Cantt (216), Johar Town (201) and Hiking & Mountaineering Club GCU (199).