The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast snowfall and heavy rain in most parts of the country from Saturday to Tuesday, under the effect of a “strong westerly weather system”. According to a press release issued by the Met Office on Wednesday, the weather system is expected to enter the western and upper parts of the country on Saturday evening or night, after a long dry period.
“It is likely to grip most parts of the country on Sunday and may persist till Tuesday,” the forecast said. The Met Office said under the effect of this system, isolated heavy showers are expected in Balochistan’s Quetta, Ziarat, Pishin, Zhob, Qila Abdullah, Nokkundi, Dalbadin, Noshki, Turbat, Panjgur, Peshawar, Pasni, Jiwani, Lasbela, Kalat, Khuzdar, Mastung, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Sibi, Kohlu and Barkhan areas of Balochistan on Saturday and Sunday.
It warned that heavy showers may cause flash floods in “vulnerable areas” of Sibi, Bolan, Kalat, Khuzdar, Nasirabad and Kohlu. Heavy and isolated spells of rain are also expected in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Rajanpur, Multan, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Okara, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan areas over the weekend, and in Sindh’s Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Karachi, Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas and Khairpur regions.
From Sunday to Tuesday, heavy and isolated spells of rain are also expected in Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, according to the forecast. Downpour will also likely be experienced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Chitral, Dir, Swat, Malakand, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur.
