PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Jan 29: Several districts in north-west Jharkhand including Daltonganj, Garhwa and Latehar were in the grip of cold wave conditions on Saturday.
Cold wave conditions were also prevailing in Chatra and Lohardaga.
Met data revealed that Daltonganj, Latehar, Chatra and Lohardaga today recorded minimum readings of around six degree Celsius while the IMD observatory in Garhwa recorded five degrees.
In all those districts the minimum readings went down by 4.5 degree Celsius below the normal.
In Met parlance a cold wave condition is declared when minimum reading goes 4.5 degree Celsius below normal and that minimum reading remains below 10 degrees.
“The dominating north-westerly currents have intensified the chill and this has resulted in a cold wave condition,” said Abhishek Anand, head of Ranchi Met Center.
IMD data suggested that several districts witnessed a sub-10 chill.
Ranchi today recorded a minimum temperature of 6.8 °C, four notches below normal while Jamshedpur recorded a minimum reading of 9 °C, three points below normal.
Weathermen said moderate cold wave conditions were also prevailing in central Jharkhand on Saturday.
He also said the dominating north-westerly wind was causing the night temperature to plummet.
Weathermen at IMD’s Ranchi Meteorological Center also said dry weather conditions will prevail over Jharkhand for the next 72 hours and that there won’t be any major changes in minimum and maximum readings.
