A boy helps his mother cross the street in Jamshedpur in the sweltering heat. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, May 10: It?s hot, it?s dry and, at least for the next two days, there will be no respite.

The mercury today shot up to 42.6 degrees Celsius in Jamshedpur, making it the one of the hottest days in the city this summer. What makes it worse is that summer has only just begun.

The Patna meteorological office, which monitors the weather conditions in Jharkhand and Bihar, has predicted that the dry spell would continue over Jharkhand for the next few days.

?The westerly wind is at present dominating over Jharkhand. These winds are dry and generally contributes in raising the mercury level. We see no signs of rainfall at least in the next 72-hours over Jharkhand,? said T.N. Jha, director of Patna meteorological office.

Jha said an analysis of the weather chart at the regional met office in Patna indicated that several parts of the state, including Daltonganj, Hazaribagh, Dumka, Gumla, Koderma and places in the Santhal Pargana and Chhotanagpur plateau regions, will continue to face dry weather in the next few days. The temperatures are hovering around the 42 degrees Celsius mark in all these places.

Ruling out the possibility of rainfall, Jha said: ?Chances of rainfall are remote due to the lack of moisture incursion into the atmosphere. The frequent change in the wind pattern at times results in a cyclonic effect in the lower level of atmosphere. But for the last three days, the westerly wind is prevailing over the state and the weather chart did not indicate any shift in the wind pattern.?

Weathermen said Daltonganj recorded the maximum temperature today as compared to other parts of the state. The mercury soared to 43.4 degrees Celsius, while the second highest temperature was recorded at Gumla. Ranchi was comparatively better off at 38.5 degrees Celsius.

The misery of the people has increased in the absence of nor?westers. ?Nor?westers usually hit this time of the season, bringing rains. But most parts of the state has been deprived of Nor?westers this year,? said a weatherman.

A senior weather analyst at the Patna office warned that in the absence of rainfall, the mercury could shoot up to 45 degrees Celsius in several parts of the state, especially in the hilly terrain. Figures available from the local weather office indicate the mercury level has been constantly rising in the steel city for the last one week. The maximum temperature recorded on May 4 was 37.1 degrees Celsius.