LAHORE: Monsoon showers are likely to hit upper parts of the country by early next week as downpours are expected in Azad Kashmir, Islamabad Capital Territory, and Gujranwala and Lahore divisions.
However, the current spell of monsoon system is likely to bring scattered rains to various parts of Punjab in the next 24 hours before entering Sindh, particularly Karachi, on July 14 (today), according to officials in the regional office of Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
A strong monsoon system has started moving from India and it is likely to enter Pakistan on Thursday (today) after passing over Rajasthan. Accordingly, severe rain is expected in Karachi and Balochistan over the subsequent three days.
However, sources made it clear that 80 percent of the system would be hovering over the sea and a further drift may push the rest of the 20 percent to the sea as well. The actual position would only be clear when the system enters the country, they added.
A scattered spell of rain hit Lahore in the early hours of Wednesday, causing a rainfall of 22 millimetres in the area of Nishtar Town, followed by 19 mm at Upper Mall and 17 mm in the area of Lakshmi Chowk.
The city of Islamabad witnessed 140 mm of rainfall, followed by 84 mm in Chaklala and 78 mm in Jhelum.
Shahid Abbas, the director of PMD, said the upcoming spell of severe rains would continue from the 14th to 16th of July in Karachi after which the monsoon rains would end there.
However, monsoon rains would restart throughout Punjab after that and would continue until end of August.
He said the province would witness the entry of heavy monsoon spells from the 20th of July and scattered but impressive rains would continue to hit various parts of it.
It may be noted that there has been no impressive rain in the central Punjab region since July 1, when the monsoon weather system initially made its presence felt. However, there have been a few spells of heavy rains in the hilly areas and Islamabad, added Mr Abbas.
According to him, the month of August would register good spells of rains in Punjab with a few minor breaks. However, the rains would not be as severe as the recent ones in Balochistan and Karachi.
Meanwhile, Tarbela dam has received 88 feet of water in the last 10 days, attaining the water level of 1486 feet against its dead level of 1398 feet. Mr Abbas said the dam could reach its optimum level by the 20th of July due to rains in its catchment areas.
Mangla dam has attained the water level of 1124 feet.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022