Dicey weather: Dust blanket washed away by mild showers

Flights were delayed due to a dust storm, but ensuing rain lessened impact on citizens.

ISLAMABAD:

Rain and dust storms returned to the capital on Saturday, ending a week that has seen intense but brief periods of both rain and shine came.

Clouds gathered over Islamabad, with the mild shower preceded by howling gusts of dusty winds that saw residents racing for shelter. In Rawalpindi, the dust storm also briefly interrupted air traffic at Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

Similar dust storms were witnessed in the twin cities on Wednesday night.

Rain continued from the afternoon till the early evening. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Islamabad received 8 millimetres (mm) of rain during the day. Murree received 10 mm rain during the same time period, but Rawalpindi only received a trace amount of rainfall.

The maximum temperature in Islamabad and Rawalpindi was recorded at 34 degrees Celsius, while the minimums in the twin cities ranged between 18 and 21 Celsius.

The rain and dust storms are part of “unstable weather conditions” which will continue with intervals in different parts of the country including Islamabad throughout May, according to weather advisory issued by the PMD on May 8.

The Met Office also predicted dust thunderstorms and rain in Islamabad and parts of Punjab on Sunday and Monday. The PMD advisory also suggested that the “prevailing unusual weather conditions” during May, coupled with fluctuating weather over the Pacific, might lead to an “erratic monsoon season” in Pakistan during the summer.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2014.