LAHORE: Dust-thunderstorm or rain with gusty winds at scattered places sharply dropped temperatures in majority of the cities in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and upper parts of the country on Wednesday.

Rain and dust storm in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Malakand, Peshawar, Kohat divisions, Islamabad and Kashmir, Bahawalpur, Lahore, Hazara divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan provided great relief to people, helping them brave repeated power suspensions with relative ease.

The weather remained very hot and dry in Sindh and Balochistan.

Lahore`s maximum temperature dropped from Tuesday`s 39 degrees Celsius to 33 degrees. A dust storm that had lashed the city on Tuesday night brought in fresh, soothing wind. Another storm in the morning accompanied by light rain provided the ultimate relief, keeping the weather cloudy and comfortable during the day.

Air traf fic remained suspended at the airport for two hours early in the morning dueto bad weather.

The Met department said rain that was generated by a westerly wave dropped temperatures in many other cities. Kasur recorded a maximum temperature of 34 degrees, Gujranwala 33, Gujrat 31, Jhang 36, Jhelum 29.5, Sialkot 33.5, Faisalabad 37 and Multan 38.

It said that Islamabad received 41mm of rain, Jhelum 20, Mandi Bahauddin 15, Mangla 11, Chakwal 10, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Toba Tek Singh 7 each, Gujranwala 5, Bahawalnagar 2, Jhang and Gujrat 1 each, Cherat 24, Saidu Sharif 6, Kohat and Lower Dir 5 each, Pattan 3, Malamjabba 2, Balakot and Kalam 1, Garhi Dupatta 8, Muzaffarabad 5, Rawalakot 3, Kotli 2, Astore 9, Bunji 2.

Meanwhile, Sindh and Balochistan continued to sizzle under the blazing sun.

The maximum temperature of Sibbi was 50 degree C, Lasbella 49, Turbat, Pasni and Dadu 48, Ormara and Jiwani 47, Jacobabad, Larkana and Moenjodaro 46.

The maximum temperatures of Pasni (48) and Ormara (47) were a record.

Pasni`s earlier highest maximum temperature of the month was 47 degrees and Ormara`s 44.1 degrees -both recorded onMay 19, 2002.

Mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country in the next 24 hours. However, rain-thunderstorm withgusty winds is expected at isolated places in Hazara,Bannu,DeraIsmailKhan,Sargodha divisions, lower Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.