Patna Medical College and Hospital students use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun on Wednesday. Residents have started feeling the pinch of peak summer in April itself with the mercury touching the 40° Celsius-mark, three notches above normal. The maximum temperature on Wednesday stood at 40.2°C. Compounding their woes is the low-level of the relative humidity, which gives the feel of dry heat conditions. The relative humidity level in Patna is hovering between 10 and 15 per cent — much lower than the figures of past few years in April when it used to hover between 30 and 40 per cent. “Residents won’t get any respite from dry heat conditions in the next 48 hours,” meteorologist RK Giri told The Telegraph, adding: “Heat wave conditions are not prevailing in Patna at present but a rise of one to two degrees would lead to heat wave conditions here.” A heat wave is said to be prevailing when the maximum temperature rises five degrees above normal. At present it is around 3°C above normal. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey