Respite from the prevailing heatwave-condition is in the offing as rain is expected in extreme northeastern parts of the state on Wednesday. The city and other parts of central Bihar are expected to witness showers by Thursday or Friday.

Weathermen at the local meteorological office claimed that the wind direction in Patna changed from dry and hot westerlies to moist easterly in the city by the evening. It was the westerly wind, which led to the prevailing heatwave conditions in Patna and Gaya.

However, the city continued to reel from heat wave conditions for the third consecutive day on Tuesday as the maximum temperature stood at 43.7°C. Gaya, on the other hand, was the hottest place in the state on Tuesday as the mercury touched a sweltering 46°C, six degrees above the respective normal.

Patna meterological centre director Ashish Sen claimed that the mercury is expected to drop below the fretful 40°C mark on Thursday. "The moisture in air blocks the solar rays from reaching the lower level of atmosphere, which in turn brings down the temperature," said Sen.

On the anticipated rainfall in the state, Sen said: "Moisture feeding has already started in north and central Bihar, which is expected to cause rainfall in extreme northeastern parts of the state, including Purnea and Katihar, by Wednesday. Patna and other parts of central Bihar are likely to receive showers by Thursday or Friday," said Sen.

However, the highly anticipated rainfall would not be caused by monsoon. Weathermen at the local met office claimed that the rain would be caused by the incursion of heavy level of moisture, paving the way for the southwest monsoon.

Monsoon update

The evening bulletin of IMD on Tuesday stated that conditions would become favourable for advancement of monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, Konkan, Karnataka, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh, and some parts of central Bay of Bengal.

Patna met chief Sen claimed that monsoon is expected to set over northeastern parts of the state by June 11, and cover rest of the state by June 17-18.