Cool winds: Rain brings the mercury down in twin cities
Spell to last till weekend.
Though the rain brought relief for heat-stricken residents, it caused havoc at several localities in Rawalpindi. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID/EXPRESS TRIBUNE, ONLINE
ISLAMABAD:
A heavy downpour starting on Saturday morning turned the weather pleasant in the twin cities by brining down the mercury from 34 to 29 degrees centigrade.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) recorded 50 millimetres (mm) of rain at Shamsabad in Rawalpindi and 46 mm at Saidpur, 22 mm at Zero Point and 13 mm at Golra Sharif in Islamabad from 4 am to 12:pm.
Talking to The Express Tribune, meteorologist at PMD, Imran Siddiqui said the twin cities have received rain after a 13-day break with the last rain recorded on September 15.
“The rain spell will continue in the twin cities for the next 48 hours with regular intervals.” It is a post monsoon spell and would not last for long. From Monday onwards the temperature will rise from 29 to 35 again, he added.
The flooding of streets and roads due to the rain caused horrible traffic jams. Localities including New Katarian, Asghar Mall Chowk, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Saidpur Road, and Dhoke Kala Khan in Rawalpindi were affected the most as rainwater entered houses. Residents were seen throwing water out of their houses with buckets.
Meanwhile, Rawal Dam officials opened the spillway of the reservoir at 1:pm after the dam’s water level rose to 1,752 acre feet. “Since January, this was the 28th time we opened the spillways which is not normal practice,” Rawal Dam Sub-divisional Officer Bilal Rana said, adding that a total of 78,000 acre feet of water had been spilled out this year. “Massive amounts of water are wasted because of lack of storage.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2013.
A heavy downpour starting on Saturday morning turned the weather pleasant in the twin cities by brining down the mercury from 34 to 29 degrees centigrade.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) recorded 50 millimetres (mm) of rain at Shamsabad in Rawalpindi and 46 mm at Saidpur, 22 mm at Zero Point and 13 mm at Golra Sharif in Islamabad from 4 am to 12:pm.
Talking to The Express Tribune, meteorologist at PMD, Imran Siddiqui said the twin cities have received rain after a 13-day break with the last rain recorded on September 15.
“The rain spell will continue in the twin cities for the next 48 hours with regular intervals.” It is a post monsoon spell and would not last for long. From Monday onwards the temperature will rise from 29 to 35 again, he added.
The flooding of streets and roads due to the rain caused horrible traffic jams. Localities including New Katarian, Asghar Mall Chowk, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Saidpur Road, and Dhoke Kala Khan in Rawalpindi were affected the most as rainwater entered houses. Residents were seen throwing water out of their houses with buckets.
Meanwhile, Rawal Dam officials opened the spillway of the reservoir at 1:pm after the dam’s water level rose to 1,752 acre feet. “Since January, this was the 28th time we opened the spillways which is not normal practice,” Rawal Dam Sub-divisional Officer Bilal Rana said, adding that a total of 78,000 acre feet of water had been spilled out this year. “Massive amounts of water are wasted because of lack of storage.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2013.