After the brunt of cyclone ‘Phethai’, Jharkhand continued to remain in the grip of biting cold with reports of five persons succumbing to the chill in different parts of the State during past 24-hour. According to weathermen, the existing weather conditions would continue for next three days with the mercury level further registering acute dip.
With cold wave unabated in Jharkhand and minimum temperature dropping by 3 to 7 degree Celsius below the normal temperature across the region, Ranchi shivered at minimum 6.2 degree Celsius while its suburb area—Kanke recorded 2.2 degree Celsius on December 22 night. The meteorological Centre—Ranchi has predicted that the minimum temperature may remain constant or could slip further due to the impact of north-westerly wind speed likely to exceed in sometime.
“Strong cold north westerly wind from Himalayan ranges and clear sky after the impact of cyclone ‘Phethai’ has increased the woes of the people here. At present, the minimum temperature level is below the normal conditions --3 to 4 degree Celsius. Also, the impact of severe cold waves over Central Jharkhand and Northern parts of the country has resulted in further decrease of temperature level here in Jharkhand,” said Senior Scientist, MET Observatory Centre — Ranchi, R S Sharma.
Sharma admitted that in comparison to past few years, this year, the minimum temperature is moderately above the normal range. According to Sharma, chilliness during night hours is predominately high as ground surface releases heat in the air quite rapidly and get cooler swiftly, increasing the intensity of cold.
“The situation is expected to remain like this for a while as there is no synoptic system or circulation formulation in the last week of December. Plummeting mercury will influence the life of the residents across the State. The major weather activity — predominately the change in wind pattern is also not in the sight which indicates that the condition is likely to remain the same for a few more days,” Sharma added.
Besides, the residents of the State Capital who are experiencing bone-chilling cold with minimum temperature dropping by 5 degree Celsius below normal from mid December, Jharkhand’s eastern, northeast and southern parts—which mainly includes Bokaro, Dhanbad, Giridih, Dumka including Deoghar districts are also reeling under severe cold conditions with minimum temperature dropping by 3 to 7 degree Celsius below normal.
In addition, according to the weather bulletin released by MET Observatory Centre —Ranchi on Sunday, a few districts of western and northern parts of the region is likely to experience severe cold wave in the days to come.
Further, the MET Centre forecasted that cold wave conditions will continue to prevail in the State along with a foggy weather during the next few days.