Rain cools the twin cities as temperature falls from 30 to 21 degrees, more showers forecast

Residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi got an unexpected pleasant surprise on Saturday evening, when clouds gathered over the twin cities and rain set in at 6:25pm. It lasted about half an hour — long enough to pull the temperature down from 30 degrees in the morning to 21 degrees Celsius.

A shallow westerly wave

According to the Met Office, a shallow westerly wave has moved into the region and may persist until Saturday night. The department expects partly cloudy weather with rain, wind and thunderstorms at isolated places in upper Punjab, Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, while the rest of the country stays dry. The twin cities could see further isolated showers on Saturday morning and evening too.

Cold deepens across Punjab

The twin cities were not alone. Rain across several parts of Punjab has deepened the cold, with heavy showers in Narowal, Shakargarh, Kartarpur, Noorkot and adjoining areas, while Islamabad stayed overcast from the morning with light rain in places. The Met Office has warned that hailstorms are possible at isolated locations. In the past 24 hours, Bahawalnagar received 3 millimetres of rain, while Murree and Chakwal recorded 1 millimetre each. Expected temperatures include Islamabad at 13 to 30 degrees, Lahore at 20 to 31, Karachi at 25 to 36, Peshawar at 16 to 31 and Quetta at 4 to 24 degrees Celsius.
For anyone planning a weekend outing, the change is worth noting — an umbrella and a quick check of the latest forecast before an evening trip would be wise this time.