The heat seems to be back with a vengeance to reclaim its territory, which had cooled down a little after frequent thunderstorms over the past week.

On Thursday, the mercury shot up to 40.1ºC in Patna — the highest temperature recorded this summer. Weathermen have predicted that the temperature would continue to climb in the coming days.

“Both maximum and minimum temperatures started shooting up since Wednesday. The maximum temperature on April 17 was 36.7ºC before suddenly surging to 39.9ºC yesterday, three degrees above normal. Similarly, the minimum reading rose from 21ºC on April 17 to 25.2ºC on Wednesday, two degrees above normal. This rise in temperature is likely to persist for the next week with the possibility of a heat wave,” said D.C. Gupta, director, Patna Met department.

Meteorology parameters consider temperature above 40ºC as heat wave condition.

Attributing the trend to the absence of easterly winds in the region, Gupta said: “Ea-sterly winds bring moisture from Bay of Be-ngal to the Bihar region, restricting abnormal rise in the temperature. However, at pre-sent, the atmosphere in the region is filled with dry westerly winds owing to which sunrays directly hit the earth’s surface, causing a rise in day and night temperatures.”

The Patna Met department recorded 29 per cent humidity in the air at 12noon on Thursday. Gupta claimed that the low humidity level is a saviour for the people.

“Yesterday, my daughter complained of dizziness after we walked to home (1.5km) from her school. I felt bad about forcing my child to walk in such sweltering heat,” said Arpita, a resident of Ashiana Nagar.