A gloomy Sunday with partly cloudy sky robbed people in most parts of Jharkhand the nip in the morning air.

Weathermen said a western disturbance in north India, coupled with moisture incursion from Bay of Bengal, was responsible for the unusual climate that would impact Jharkhand weather for at least another 48 hours.

Director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre S.D. Kotal said the easterly winds were bringing moisture from the Bay. “Such weather conditions will prevail over the state for the next two days,” he said.

The Met office issued a warning of shallow fog for the next 72 hours. “Easterly and south-easterly winds are dominating most parts of the state since Saturday evening. This resulted in abrupt rise in minimum temperatures,” said a senior weatherman in Ranchi.

Data revealed that minimum readings in Jamshedpur and districts such as Simdega, Khunti, Seraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum had jumped two to three notches in the past 24 hours. The local IMD observatory in Jamshedpur on Sunday recorded a minimum of 15°C, three degrees above normal. On Saturday, the steel city was way colder at 12°C.

Seraikela, Simdega, Chaibasa (headquarters of West Singhbhum) also recorded temperatures around 15°C.

Ranchi on Sunday recorded a night temperature of 12°C, two notches above normal. On Saturday, Ranchi had notched 11°C. The observatory in Daltonganj read 14.9°C on Sunday, five notches above the average normal. On Saturday, Daltonganj had recorded a minimum of 12.8°C.

A duty officer at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Calcutta said relative humidity would witness a rise because of cloud formation in some districts. He said they were expecting another spell of chill in Jharkhand around mid-December.

Ranchi weathermen also predicted shallow morning fog for the next 72 hours.