Students beat the heat with umbrellas and dupattas in Sakchi on Wednesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

The summer sun has pushed up the swelter meter beyond the 40°C mark at several places, and it’s only going to get worse over the next two days.

Heat pockets Daltonganj and Jamshedpur topped the Celsius chart recording more than 40°C on Wednesday, with Jamshedpur going above the oppressive tipping point for the second consecutive day, though capital Ranchi was spared the worst thanks to a cloud cover.

The local weather office in Jamshedpur on Wednesday recorded a maximum temperature of 40.1°C, four degrees above normal. On Tuesday, the steel city suffocated at 40.5°C. Adjoining areas like Chaibasa, Ghatshila and Seraikela also recorded a maximum of around 40°C.

Daltonganj on Wednesday recorded the season’s highest temperature with the maximum reading reaching 40.6°C, again four degrees above normal. On Tuesday, Daltonganj was a tad cooler at 38.8°C.

Compared to the heat chambers, day temperatures in Ranchi were much lower at 36.2 C, but still three degrees above normal. According to weathermen, formation of high clouds had prevented the rise in the maximum reading.

Day temperatures also soared in Bokaro, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Gumla, Palamau, Latehar and Koderma. Bokaro on Wednesday recorded a maximum of 39.4°C, four degrees above normal. On Tuesday, it was two degrees cooler with a maximum of 37.8°C.

Coal town Dhanbad recorded a maximum of 39.7°C on Wednesday against 39.3°C the day before. Day temperatures in places like Deoghar, Gumla and Latehar were between 37 and 39°C.

Heatwave-like conditions prevailed in many parts of the state on Wednesday afternoon due to the dominating dry westerly winds.

Not surprisingly, shades, sunscreen and ACs were in full use in the steel city.

“It was as hot as any summer day. If this is the condition at the beginning of summer, what will happen as the season progresses,” asked housewife Gargi Chatterjee, as she shepherded her daughter home from school in an auto-rickshaw.

Director of Ranchi Meteorological Office G.K. Mohanty said there would be no respite from the sweltering conditions in the next couple of days.