Scattered rain across the country and snowfall in the upper mountainous regions led to a drop in temperatures, disrupting road and communication links creating shortage of fuel and commodities adding to hardships of population stranded in cut off areas.
According to Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), heavy and scattered rains lashed Punjab, Upper Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Kashmir. Heavy snowfall was also recorded in mountainous regions of the country. Rain also inundated the lower lying areas in Punjab, Sindh and KP and local population had to face severe hardships besides disruption of traffic due to accumulation of rain water.
Several upper areas of country were cut off with from main towns due to landslides and avalanches. The stranded population had to face severe hardships due to shortage of fuel and commodities. During past 24 hours Risalpur received 84 mm rain while rain recorded in other cities was: Saidu Sharif 83 mm, Peshawar 79mm, Lower Dir 67mm, Rawalpindi 62mm, Kohat, 61mm, Mianwali 49mm, Bannu 48mm, Khuzdar 39mm, Muzaffarabad 30mm, Balakot 25mm, Lahore 19mm, Sargodha 11mm and Jhang 8mm. Snowfall recorded in Malam Jabba was 3.5 feet, Kalam two feet, Darosh one foot, Dir eight inches, Murree seven inches, Chitral six inches and Skardu five inches.
Lowest temperature was recorded in Qalat at 7C Meanwhile, PMD has forecasted more rain and snowfall in mountainous areas of Punjab, Upper Sindh, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir during next 24 hours. Weather in Karachi and Lahore turned cold after rainfall in the wee hours of Monday. Several areas of Karachi received heavy showers. The scattered rain dropped the mercury which has risen in the last couple of days.
Weather in Punjab’s provincial capital, Lahore turned cold after heavy showers. The PMD forecasted widespread rains with isolated heavy fall in upper Punjab including Islamabad, while scattered rain was expected in southern Punjab during next 24 hours.