Muhammad Usman
The City remained in the grip of severe cold wave with freezing temperature and the routine life paralysed by dense fog on Thursday morning. The City, like other plain areas of Punjab, has been experiencing severe cold since the last wet spell that lashed the northern, western and north-western parts of the country.
According to details, the fog blanketed the City and its suburbs in the morning, decreasing the temperature, which turned weather more cold.
Meanwhile, dense fog forced suspension of flight operation at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore after visibility reduced to just 30 meters, resulting in delay or cancelation of several flights.
Same was case with the motorway as the Lahore-Sheikhupura section of Islamabad-Lahore Motorway had to be closed for traffic.
The motorists also faced huge problems on GT Road and other highways of Punjab. In Lahore and other areas of Punjab, dense fog hovered around even hours after sunrise with sun barely managing to appear. The severity of weather can be gauged by the fact that the minimum temperature in the City dipped to 2 degree Celsius. For the next 24 hours, the Met Office has predicted that northern areas and north-western Balochistan will continue experiencing severe cold weather with the plains of Punjab and upper Sindh engulfed by fog.
As far as the past 24 hours are concerned, Kalam was the coldest place in Pakistan with a minimum temperature of minus 12 degree Celsius.
The minimum temperature recorded in different cities of Punjab best illustrates the situation: Jhelum, Attock, Faisalabad and Chakwal 2 degree Celsius; Multan, Bahawalpur and Sargodha 3 degree Celsius, Lahore and Sahiwal 4 degree Celsius; DG Khan 5 degree Celsius.
It was followed by minus 9 in Kalat, minus 8 in Skardu, minus 7 in Quetta, minus 6 in Parachinar, minus 5 in Zhob and minus 4 in Murree.