Thunderstorm, heavy rain hit Lahore

LAHORE: Heavy rain with thunderstorm and lightning was witnessed in the provincial metropolis on Wednesday evening. Heavy rain with gusty winds disrupted the traffic system as well as tripped more than 400 feeders of Lesco resulting in power outages in several city areas.

The localities where rain was witnessed included Johar Town, Wapda Town, Township, Green Town, Muslim Town, Mughalpura, Taj Bagh, Mozang, Ichhra, Samanabad, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Qila Gujjar Singh, Davis Road, Garhi Shahu, Railway Station, Walled City areas, Faisal Town, Model Town, Raiwind Road and its adjoining localities, Chungi Amar Sadhu, Ferozepur Road, Anarkali, Urdu Bazaar, Shadman, Shah Jamal, Wahdat Colony, Mansoora, Awan Town, Thokar and etc.

As soon as the rain started, Wasa Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz directed his field teams to come out and monitor the situation. Most of the city roads were cleared of stagnant rainwater until our going to the press. On the other hand, the teams of district administration were also on high alert to deal with any emergency situation due to thunderstorm and gusty winds. Till filing of this report electricity was not restored in most of the city areas.

Earlier in the morning, scattered rain with thunderstorm brought down the rising temperature in the City while thick clouds continued to hover over the provincial capital. Met officials said a westerly wave was affecting upper and central parts of the country. They predicted that thunderstorm (with isolated heavy fall and few hailstorm) was expected in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, upper and central Punjab, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan while hot and dry weather was expected elsewhere in the country.

Rainfall was also witnessed in several cities, including Murree 26, Dera Ghazi Khan 23, Bahawalnagar 04, Narowal 03, Nurpurthal 02, Lahore (City 02), Muzaffarabad (AP 10, City 07), Rawalakot 12, Kotli 06. Bunji 07, Bagrote, Astore 04, Gilgit 01, Upper Dir, Parachinar 06, Malam Jabba 05 and Balakot 02mm. Wednesday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Dadu where mercury reached 46°C while in Lahore, it was 35.4°C and minimum was 23.3°C.