Monsoon rains hit Lahore, other parts of Punjab

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Rain with thunderstorm and strong winds lashed northeastern Punjab as well as many upper and central areas of the province on Sunday, inundating the low-lying areas and resulting in electricity supply to many.

On the other hand, the Met Office warned of flash flood in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad in the next 24 hours because of strong monsoon currents penetrating Pakistan.

It has predicted that Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock and Chakwal would receive heavy rain from 9pm on Sunday to 4am on Monday.

Also on Sunday, the monsoon covered the entire country, which is 10 days earlier than its normal westward movement.

It all started around 11am when clouds started developing around Chakwal and Jhelum, which covered the region in the afternoon.

The latest satellite images at 6:24pm show that the dark clouds have now entered Indian Punjab, while much of the Kashmir region is also covered.

Read more: Urban flooding expected as monsoon to hit Pakistan from 25th

At the same time, upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – parts of Malakand and Hazara – are also covered by clouds, while getting thicker and expanding simultaneously.

Meanwhile, another thunder cell is moving towards Islamabad, which developed in the border region between Afghanistan.

Thick clouds are also visible over Balochistan, moving from north to south.

Earlier in the morning, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and surrounding areas including that in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa scattered thundershowers. However, it only increased humidity level in the region because of lack of wind and the patchy nature of rain.

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The latest cloud development confirms the warning issued by both the Met Office and the PDMA about the flash flooding in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Swat, Shangla, Dir, Kohistan, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi and Kashmir.

A similar warning have been issued for Musakhel, Barkhan, Khuzdar, Lasbella and Kalat in Balochistan.

The weekly update issued by the PMD shows that the monsoon rains would be isolated or scattered on Monday and Tuesday. However, the monsoon currents are set to regain strength from Tuesday night or Wednesday.

It will produce widespread rains with isolated heavy rainfall in Islamabad, upper Punjab, northeast Balochistan, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan.

On Saturday, the PMD prediction shows monsoon covering entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan, Kashmir, Islamabad as well as parts of Balochistan and Sindh.