Monsoon rainfall struck parts of the city scaling down the soaring temperature while Met Office on Saturday forecast more rains with thunderstorm across Sindh in the next 24 hours. Many parts of the city received heavy downpour while some witnessed drizzle during the day. But rainwater hampered business activities and adversely affected the movement of vehicular traffic especially public commuting.
The Met office said that a dust-storm coupled with thundershower and gusty winds were likely to hit at scattered places in Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Thatta and Larkana and Hyderabad Divisions. Light rain/drizzle with occasional thunderstorm may also occur in Karachi Division over the period. "It just drizzled in the old city area that houses a majority of key wholesales markets of grains and medicines," Chairman All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Atiq Mir said talking to the Business Recorder adding that "the light rainfall however reduced business activities."
He appreciated the Sindh government saying that she had been relatively proactive to remove stagnant rainwater and cleansed the filth from markets to help continue the trade activities. He said that CM Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah had been active to cope with the rain emergency situation. "In the past, rain emergency camps remained unattended but this time officials are present to respond," he noted the change.
The Met office said: "Seasonal low lies over north Balochistan. Yesterday's monsoon low over south Rajasthan and adjoining areas now lies over south-west Rajasthan. A westerly wave also persists over upper parts of the country." It warned that heavy downpour was feared to trigger a flash-flooding and landslides in the vulnerable areas of Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.
Weather in the next 24 hours: Rain-thundershowers (associated with gusty winds) with isolated heavy falls is expected at a number of places in Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Kashmir, while at scattered places in FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Eastern Balochistan.
Weather in the next 48 hours: Rain-thundershowers (associated with gusty winds) with isolated heavy fall are expected at a number of places in Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Kashmir, while at scattered places in the FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and eastern Balochistan. Rainfall recorded in the last 24 hours: In Punjab: Lahore Airport 49 mm, Multan and Toba Tek Singh 9 mm each, Mandi Bahauddin 6 mm, Chakwal and Bahawalnagar 5 mm each and Kot Addu 3 mm. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Malamjabba 38 mm, Pattan 12 mm, Kakul 9 mm, Dir and Kalam 5 mm each, Saidu Sharif 4 mm and Chitral 3 mm. In Sindh: Chachro 24 mm, Diplo 10 mm and Islamkot 2 mm. In Gilgit-Baltistan: Gupis 3 mm.