The discomfort index which is measured on the basis of temperature, wind and relative humidity on Sunday rose up to 69 degrees in Jamshedpur, 14 notches above the normal.
In places like Dhanbad, Bokaro, Deoghar, Daltonganj, Giridih and Chatra, it hovered between 65 and 68 degrees on Sunday. Hazaribagh, Koderma, Godda and Pakur recorded a discomfort index of around 63 degrees, eight points above normal.
“As per our study an east to west trough stretched from northwest Rajasthan to Manipur across south Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal at 0.9 km above mean sea level.
This has resulted in a shift in wind pattern. Until Saturday evening the wind pattern in most parts of Jharkhand was north-westerly, but since last night it changed to easterly resulting in moisture incursion into the atmosphere,” said a duty officer at IMD’s Ranchi MeT Centre.
“We are not used to living under such heat conditions. It is perhaps for the first time that we witnessed a harsh May this season.
There was a time when the mercury crossed 35 or 36, but rain brought respite in the evenings.
The trends have changed now. We have no choice but to reel under soaring mercury. At least we are happy that schools have closed from today,” Ramesh Shankran, a bank employee said.
Morning and noon were uncomfortable in Kolhan region comprising three districts — East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan, on Sunday.
Day readings in Jamshedpur hovered around 38 degrees on Sunday as compared to Saturday’s 40 degrees. Weathermen said the day readings in steel city witnessed a drop due to moisture inflow.
The local weather office in Jamshedpur today recorded relative humidity of 80 per cent, which added to the discomfort.