The upper parts of the country are in grip of severe cold, freezing winds, heavy snowfall, widespread rain as westerly wave is present over the country and likely to grip most parts the country Wednesday night and may persist in upper/central parts till today night, Met office said here on Wednesday.
Severe cold wave coupled with chilly winds has made the conditions frigid in most parts of the country. Citizens remained holed up in their homes to avoid the extreme weather. The cold wave has further dropped mercury much below freezing point at different places. In its daily weather report at 1800 PST, the Met Office said that lowest minimum temperature has dipped to:
Skardu -19°C, Astore -16°C, Bagrote, Kalam, Gupis -12°C, Hunza -06°C, Parachinar -05°C, Dir, Malamjabba -04°C, Drosh, Rawalakot -03°C, Mirkhani, Kakul -02°C, Gilgit, Kamra, Chitral, Bunji -01°C, Quetta 00°C, Islamabad / Rawalpindi 06°C, Lahore 03°C, Muzaffarabad 01°C, Pweshawar 02°C, KaRACHI 12°C and Hyderabad 11°C.
It said that during Wednesday night and on Thursday widespread rain-thunderstorm is expected in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Mardan divisions), Upper Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore, Faisalabad divisions), Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir, while at scattered places in Bannu, DI Khan, Multan, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, DG Khan, divisions, Balochistan (Quetta, Zhob, Kalat, Makran, Naseerabad, Sibbi divisions), Sindh (Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Hyderabad, Karachi), while at isolated places in Mirpurkhas and Thatta divisions.
Snowfall over the hills is also expected in Malakand division (Swat, Chitral, Kalam, Malamjabba and upper Dir), Hazara division, Murree, Galliyat, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Heavy snowfall has cut off villages in the mountainous areas. Shallow foggy conditions are likely in few plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during morning and night.
Rainfall (mm) during Last 24 hrs:
Balochistan: Quetta (A/P 22, Shiekh Manda 17), Kalat 14, Barkhan 07, Zhob 02, Nokkundi 01, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Parachinar 17,Bannu, Malamjabba 03, Punjab: Layyah 05, Kot Addu, Gujranwala, M.B. Din 04, Chakwal, Jhang, Multan 02, Islamabad A/P, Faisalabad, Joharabad, Sahiwal, DG Khan, Bhakkar 01.