Rain ends dry spell

Rawalpindi :The much-awaited rain lashed parts of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Sunday and ended the dry spell of over two months. The twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad received the last rain in the month of August.

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Director Dr. Muhammad Hanif said that people in the country have been a long dry spell as ‘La-Nina’ has fully developed here in the country. There will be less chance of good rains even in the month of November, he claimed. “There is too much dust in the air because of lack of rain which causes respiratory problems, including asthma, and several kinds of allergies like skin dryness,” he said.

The rain lashed here in Gulzar-e-Quaid, Adiala Road, Saddar, Jhelum Road, Rawat, Waris Khan, Jhanda, Kutcherry, Scheme-III and several other parts of Rawalpindi while Bara Khau, Islamabad Expressway, Karachi Company, G-9, G-10 and I-8 areas in federal capital, Islamabad. But, it was rain of some minutes.

According to Met Office, El Nino and La-Nina weather patterns have formed in the Pacific Ocean at western coast of South America. The El Nino impacts monsoon rains whereas the La Nina affects the winter rains.

Because of the later pattern, the winds coming from the Mediterranean Sea were getting limited moisture from the Caspian Sea. Simultaneously, a high pressure anomaly over Central Asia was pushing the cold winds further north towards Southern Russia instead of moving South East towards Pakistan. Since such irregular developments cannot be predicted over a long term, the Met office experts don’t see an strong end to the dry spell even in November.

The people in twin cities were relieved as it rained after two months of dry weather. Doctors believed that the rain would help in overcoming a number of diseases — especially among children. “Sore throat was quite common in dry weather with so much dust all around,” health experts told ‘The News.’

However, they said that after Sunday’s rain, patients of asthma, dust allergy and throat infection would feel relieved. “Rain is good, especially for asthma patients, as they spent a tough time during dry weather,” health experts said.

It is worth mentioning here that absence of rains is having a serious impact on the Rabi crops too, especially in the Barani (rain-fed) areas. Met Office has also issued an advisory to the farmers in Barani areas, which is mainly the Potohar region, that they should use deep ploughs to reach the sub-soil moisture.

The fresh westerly wave seen approaching the northern parts of the country on and is likely to persist for a few days it will bring rain and thunderstorm over the hills in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and at isolated places in Malakand and Hazara divisions, the Met Office predicted.