The mercury recorded a steady climb and the meteorological office declared another heat wave alert in Patna on Tuesday.
The scorcher made a comeback to the state capital after a fortnight. Weathermen said the heat wave would prevail on Wednesday but pre-monsoon showers were expected to provide respite to residents on Thursday and Friday.
Gaya recorded the highest temperature in the state on Tuesday with the mercury hitting 43.2 degree Celsius.
Patna and neighbouring districts in central and eastern Bihar are expected to receive the showers because of a depression in the Bay of Bengal near the Tamil Nadu coast. Patna meteorological centre officials said eastern parts of the state will receive more rainfall.
Patna meteorological centre director Ashish Sen said moisture incursion from a depression in southern Bay of Bengal will cause rainfall in Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar and parts of Bengal on May 19 and 20.
"The depression has already caused rainfall in Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram," he said. "It will lead to showers in central and eastern India as it moves further into the country. The showers in Bihar will be concentrated in the eastern part of the state as the clouds will enter through Jharkhand."
India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its forecast has also said scattered rainfall will take place in Bihar on May 19, 20 and 21.
This will be the second spell of pre-monsoon rain in Bihar this month. A western disturbance over Nepal, its induced cyclonic circulation over central India and moisture- feeding from the Bay of Bengal had led to thundershowers on May 10 and 11.
The showers will provide respite to residents from the heat. C lear skies in the past few days led to heat wave conditions on Tuesday.
Apart from the sunny conditions, the discomfort is also high because of the rising humidity. Relative humidity was measured at as high as 76 per cent in the morning with the temperature hovering between 41 and 42 degree Celsius. The Real Feel index went up to 47 degree Celsius on Tuesday according to AccuWeather, a private weather agency. Meteorologists said the heat will trouble residents unless there is another spell of pre-monsoon showers.
The IMD said conditions were favourable for the onset of southwest monsoon over Nicobar Islands, south Andaman sea and parts of the Bay of Bengal in the next 24 hours.
