Rain washes away smog; clear weather forecast for today

LAHORE: The westerly wave hovering over the provincial metropolis has finally washed away the smoggy conditions and brought back the green look here on Thursday while Met office predicted a clear weather on Friday (today).

Heavy to moderate rain was observed in almost every city locality and inundated several areas causing trouble for the citizens and commuters. The rain started early morning and continued till Thursday evening. Long hours traffic jams were also reported at various city roads as rainwater remained stagnant.

On the other hand, stagnant rainwater slowed down the traffic on city roads, including Ferozpur Road, Canal Bank Road, The Mall, Mozang, Jail Road, Baghbanpura, MM Alam Road, Punjab University, Allama Iqbal Town, Jauhar Town, Sabzazar, Multan Road, Chauburji, Anarkali, Data Darbar, Shahdara, Mughalpura, Bibi Pakdaman, Davis Road, Shalimar Link Road, Shadbagh, GT Road and etc.

On the other hand, Met officials said that a westerly wave is affecting upper parts of the country and likely to persist. They predicted that mainly cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country. However, more rain-thunderstorm (with light snowfall over the hills) is expected in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and its adjoining hilly areas. Foggy conditions are likely in plain areas of the Punjab and upper Sindh. Rainfall was recorded at several cities, including Mianwali 34mm, Islamabad (Z.P 29mm, Saidpur 29mm, A/P 27mm, Golrha 26mm, Bokra 22mm), Murree 29mm, Rawalpindi (Shamsabad 27mm, Chaklala 24mm), Bhakkar 24mm, Kamra, Noorpur Thal, Jhang 20mm, Layyah 19mm, Sargodha (City 18mm, A/P 13mm), Chakwal, Joharabad 16mm, Hafizabad 14mm, Mangla, Jhelum 12mm, Kot Addu, Mandi Bahauddin 11mm, Faisalabad 09mm, Toba Tek Singh 07mm, Lahore, Multan 06mm, Gujranwala, Okara 05mm, Shorkot, Rahimyar Khan 04mm, Narowal, Gujrat, Dera Ghazi Khan, Khanewal 03mm, Sialkot (A/P 03mm, Cantt 01mm), Sahiwal 02mm, Malam Jabba 32mm, Dera Ismael Khan, Parachinar 27mm, Risalpur, Cherat 24mm, Peshawar (A/P 22mm, City 18mm), Bannu 20mm, Dir (lower 18mm, upper 16mm), Saidu Sharif 17mm, Kohat 15mm, Kakul 12mm, Balakot 11mm, Kalam, Mirkhani 03mm, Pattan 02, Kalat 22, Quetta (Samungli 15, Sheikh Manda 11), Zhob 07, Sibbi 05, Khuzdar 04, Karachi (Saddar 18, Faisal Base 12, Landhi 07, Ap 06, North Nazimabad 04, North Karachi 03, Masroor 01), Jacobabad 12, Larkana 09, Sukkur, Thatta 08, Mohen Jo-Daro 07mm, Rohri 05, Padidan, Sh. Benazirabad, Mirpur Khas 03, Dadu, Tandojam, Chhor 02, Kotli 20, Garhi Dupatta 12, Muzaffarabad 10, Rawalakot 09, Bagorte and Skardu 05mm. Snowfall was observed at Malam Jabba, Parachinar, Kalam, Zhob, Murree, Skardu and Astore.

Thursday's minimum temperature was recorded at Bagrote, Gupis and Skardu where mercury dropped down to -10°C while in Lahore, maximum temperature dropped down to 13.2°C and minimum was 6.8°C.

Sanitation: Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) Managing Director Khalid Nazir visited different areas to viewed sanitary condition in the city here on Thursday.

The new MD also visited LWMC’s Compost Plant, Lakhodair landfill site, workshop, weigh bridge and Mehmood Booti dumpsite. During the visit, the MD talked to people about cleanliness and services.