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A girl cools off with an ice cream near Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi on Tuesday. (Hardeep Singh)
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Rewind to the summer of 2012. The season of swelter this year threatens to be as oppressive with daytime temperatures already crossing 35°C in most parts of Jharkhand.
Weathermen at Patna Meteorological Office warn that the hot westerly winds dominating over the state will push up the mercury by another couple of degrees in the next few days.
“The westerlies are sweeping through the state for the past 24 hours. It will take another 48 hours for the wind pattern to set in completely. Once it does, day readings will soar,” said a weather analyst.
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Calcutta corroborated Patna’s predictions.
“Study of the weather chart today (Tuesday) suggests that the westerly wind pattern will remain stagnant over Jharkhand for the next 72 hours. This will result in moderate rise in maximum temperature,” said a duty officer.
He, however, ruled out possibility of rain because of rising temperatures.
Meanwhile, it was terrible Tuesday in Jamshedpur, where the maximum temperature crossed 37°C. The steel city recorded 37.1°C for the second consecutive day. The reading was three notches above the average normal.
A few other places in Seraikela-Kharsawan, West Singhbhum, Garhwa and Latehar shared the steel city’s plight, with the heat meter hovering around 37°C.
The mercury, which had soared to 36.8°C in Daltonganj on Monday, was a tad lenient on Tuesday, when Jharkhand’s heat chamber recorded 35.8°C.
The maximum temperature sprinted above 35°C in Bokaro too. This steel city recorded 35.6°C, a rise of over two degrees in 24 hours.
The temperature also went up by a couple of degrees in coal town Dhanbad. It recorded a maximum of 34.2°C against 32.6°C on Monday.
Ranchi was the coolest one on Tuesday. The maximum temperature stayed comparatively low in the capital, where the observatory read 32.8°C, two notches above the average normal.
Statistics revealed that last March, the sun was equally harsh with temperatures in most districts hovering between 35°C and 38°C.
Weather officials said minimum temperatures were also witnessing a gradual rise over the past few days.
“We do not see any significant change in the weather condition. The prevailing situation will continue for the next 48 hours. The maximum temperature will continue to rise due to westerly winds, which is dominating over the state,” confirmed A.K. Sen, the director of Patna Meteorological Office.
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