As many as 13 wet days with maximum temperatures below normal on most days made April 2020 the coolest and most pleasant in the recent few years.
Several parts of Jharkhand including Jamshedpur, Chaibasa in West Singhbhum), Ranchi, Ramgarh, Bokaro and Daltonganj have registered impressive pre-monsoon rain (since March) this year, which has helped in checking the Celsius march.
“April hasn't been so cool in the last few years,” said S.D. Kotal, director of the Ranchi Meteorological Centre.
“The maximum reading in most parts of the state has been hovering between 30°C and 34°C, much below the average normal recorded during this time of the season. Such a situation is likely to continue for a few more days as Jharkhand is still under the influence of two cyclonic circulations hovering over sub-Himalayan Bengal and south Chhattisgarh.”
Jamshedpur topped the rain chart (pre-monsoon, March and April) with 214mm. Last year it was 172.4mm. Chaibasa got 203.5mm this year while it was 147.5mm in 2019.
Ghatshila in East Singhbhum too recorded an impressive rainfall of over 225mm while last year it was 160mm.
Ranchi in central Jharkhand recorded around 190mm this year (in March and April) while last year it was a meagre 75mm. Bokaro registered 166.2mm while in 2019 it recorded only 70mm.
Maximum-temperature readings in southern and central Jharkhand were five to seven notches below normal for the last few days while in April last year they were close to normal.
The day temperature in Ranchi is around seven points below normal while in Bokaro it is eight notches.
In Jamshedpur and other parts of Kolhan the maximum stayed below 35°C on most days of April.
Similarly, places like Pakur, Godda, Sahebganj, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dumka and Giridih recorded comfortable maximum readings for the last few days.
Both the India Meteorological Department's Patna and Ranchi Met centres on Thursday afternoon issued a forecast of light rain and thunderstorm at one or two places in the districts of southeast, central and northeast Jharkhand during the next 72 hours.
They also issued an alert of thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching up to 40kmph at a few places in northeastern, central and southern Jharkhand in the next 48 hours.
