Drought-hit areas of Balochistan may receive rain

Some of the drought hit areas of Balochistan are expected to receive rain this week but Sindh's dry weather spell may continue, the Met Office said on Thursday.
Between Feb 6 and Feb 12, it said, the country's drought hit areas faced a dry weather. However, rain is likely to drench some of the vulnerable parts of Balochistan during the current week. Sindh's dry weather spell will continue over the next seven days, it added.
The rainy spell is expected to bring a relied to the people of drought-plagued areas. The southern districts of Pakistan, which are expected to suffer from the continuing drought include: Khairpur, Mityari, Qambar Shadadkot, Sajawal, Sanghar, Thatta, Tharparkar and Umerkot of Sindh while Awaran, Bolan, Chaghi, Kech, Kharan, and Washak of Balochistan. The northern parts of the country are expected to witness a wet weather over the period.
In the next 24 hours: Mainly cold and dry weather is expected in the most parts of the country. However, isolated rain thunderstorm with a light snowfall over the hills is likely in Hazara, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala Divisions, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.
Over the past 24 hours: Scattered rain with snowfall over the hills occurred in Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir, while isolated falls in Quetta, Zhob, Kalat, Multan and D.G Khan Divisions. "A westerly wave is affecting upper parts of the country and likely to move eastward during next 12 to 18 hours," the Met said.
Minimum temperature was recorded in Bagrote as minus 5 degrees Celsius, Skardu, Malamjabba, Hunza, Gupis, Kalam, Parachinar and Kalat minus 3, each, Astore minus 2 and Mirkhani minus 1. Kalam received 19 inches of snowfall over the past 24 hours followed by Malamjabba 6, Gupis 4.7, Murree 3.5, Chitral 3.0, Skardu 2.3, Drosh 1 and Astore 0.6.
Upper Dir received 57 mm of rainfall followed by Mirkhani 53 mm, Kalam 31 mm, Lahore Airport 30 mm, Gujranwala 26 mm, Chitral 25 mm, Parachinar 23 mm, Lahore City 22 mm, Drosh 20, Sialkot Airport and Rawalakot 19 mm, each, Lower Dir, Narowal and Malamjabba 17 mm, each, Sialkot Cantonment, Gujrat Hafizabad and Balakot 16 mm, each, Murree and Gari Dupatta 15, each, mm, Pattan 14 mm, Kakul, Saidu Sharif, Basham and M.B. Din 13 mm, each, Cherat, Chaklala, Gupis, Rawalpindi and Kasur 12 mm, each, Joharabad and Islamabad Zero Point 11 mm, each, Risalpur, Kotli, Saidpur and Shamsabad 10 mm, each.