PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, April 11: The heatwave which has been continuing in Jharkhand, especially north-western parts, for the last one fortnight is expected to continue for another 48-hours, warned IMD officials today.
It was a scorching Monday across Jharkhand with most districts recording day temperatures of 41°C and above, prompting the Met Office to extend the heatwave condition alert till April 13.
Jamshedpur, which recorded an oppressive 43°C for the second consecutive day — five notches above normal — was in the grip of a heatwave.
In the capital, Ranchi, and its adjoining areas, the day’s reading touched around 40°C, around four notches above normal.
According to Met officials, the day temperature in the state capital was expected to cross 41°C in the next 48 hours.
Daltonganj was the hottest on both Sunday and today, with the mercury touching around 45 degrees Celsius for the second consecutive day, seven notches above normal. A severe heatwave condition prevailed in Daltonganj and this prompted the Met Office to issue an appeal to local residents to stay indoors to avoid sunstroke.
Loo, the hot and dry wind, also swept across Daltonganj and several other places in north-western and southern Jharkhand.
Weather experts said the day’s reading was expected to rise in Palamau and in other districts of north-western Jharkhand due to dry weather conditions.
In the next 48 hours, the worst-affected districts would be Garhwa, Palamau, Latehar, Lohardaga, Gumla and three districts of the Kolhan region where day’s readings are expected to be five to six notches above normal.
Both Ranchi and Patna Met centres predicted that the dry spell would continue in Jharkhand for the next few days.
“The entire state is in the grip of westerly winds which usually spike maximum readings. The weather chart also indicated that westerly winds were dominating the state,” said a weather analyst at Ranchi Meteorological Centre.
The current spell of the heatwave is continuing for the last one fortnight, which is a record in recent years.
Such extreme day readings in Daltonganj, Jamshedpur, Garhwa (43 degrees Celsius) and several other places during April are a record in the past decade.
Weathermen ruled out any rain or thunderstorm activity in the next three days.
