Scattered rain turns weather pleasant

LAHORE: After witnessing a very high humid day here on Monday, weather became a little pleasant in the evening following a scattered rain while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.

Met office said that seasonal low lies over northwest Balochistan while monsoon currents are continuously penetrating upper parts of the country and likely to strengthen further. They predicted that rain-thundershower (with isolated heavy falls) accompanied by gusty winds is expected at scattered places in Hazara, Kohat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad Divisions, Islamabad and Kashmir. Rain-thundershower with gusty winds is expected at isolated places in Malakand, Peshawar, Mardan, Bannu, Dera Ismael Khan, Zhob, Kalat, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Bahawalpur Divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan. Hot and very humid weather is expected elsewhere in the country.

Met official said that the El-Niño conditions and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) continued to persist in neutral phase while the Tibetan High is weaker than normal. They added that monsoon systems are likely to weaken gradually during August, producing less than average rainfall and it will worsen the prevailing drought conditions in parts of Sindh and Balochistan. They added that less than average rainfall is expected to occur in the catchment areas of the major rivers which may be a matter of great concern especially in Mangla Dam filling. Monsoon is most likely to decline further in September.

Rainfall was also recorded at several cities, including Muzaffarabad, Garhi Dupatta, Islamabad and Balakot. Monday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Chillas where mercury reached 46°C while in Lahore, it was 31°C, minimum was 26.8°C and humidity level was 75 percent.