The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Ranchi and Patna centres on Wednesday said that light rains are likely in Jharkhand on November 20 -- the day Chhath devotees or bvratis will offer evening arghya to the sun god.

“We are expecting light rain especially in southern and central Jharkhand covering places like Ranchi, Jamshedpur and several other districts on Friday due to convergence of westerly and north-westerly wind, which usually results in rain" said Abhishek Anand, Deputy Director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre.

Sun plays hide and seek with clouds over Jamshedpur on Wednesday Picture by Bhola Prasad

He added that a cyclonic circulation, too, has formed over the southwest part of the Arabian Sea, resulting in the formation of clouds across several places in the state since Wednesday morning.

Weathermen at IMD's Patna Met Centre said cloud cover is also expected to prevail in some Jharkhand districts on November 21, which is the last day of the four-day Chhath festivals. On this day, devotees offer early morning prayers to the sun god.

Today's satellite reading suggested a generally cloudy sky over Jharkhand during the next 48 hours followed by light rain on Friday. There is also a possibility of moderate thunder and lightning on Friday, " said a senior weather analyst at Patna Met Centre that monitors Jharkhand’s weather.

Minimum temperature in the state rose on Wednesday due to the cloud cover, with ranchi recording a minimum temperature of 16.7 degrees Celsius -- four notches above normal. The maximum temperature was as high as 20 degrees Celsius, which is four degrees above normal.

Met department headquarters at Palamu recorded four degrees above normal minimum readings at Daltonganj on Wednesday.

The local IMD observatory at Daltonganj recorded a minimum temperature of 17.5 degree Celsius on this day.

Statistics available from the Met department suggested a rising trend of night readings in several other districts due to the adverse weather conditions.