Cold wave conditions prevailed in Jharkhand on Sunday as the mercury nosedived five notches below normal at several places in north-western, central and southern Jharkhand due to a free flow of dry and crisp north-westerly winds.

Giridih recorded the lowest minimum reading across the state on Sunday with the minimum temperature plummeting to 5.1 degree Celsius.

Chaibasa in West Singhbhum experienced severe cold when it recorded night readings of 6.6 degree Celsius, which was seven notches below normal.

On Sunday, capital Ranchi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.9 degree Celsius, which was four notches below normal.

The local IMD observatory in Jamshedpur recorded a minimum temperature of 7.8 degrees celsius, 5.3 notches below normal.

Palamu headquarters Daltonganj Sunday recorded a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius, five points below normal.

Bokaro and neighbouring Ramgarh recorded 6.1 degree Celsius. The readings in both the places were four notches below normal.

Met statistics revealed plummeting night readings in most parts of the state due to the dominating north westerly winds.

"The cold wave condition which is prevailing over Jharkhand is likely to continue for the next 48 hours," said a duty officer at Ranchi Met centre.

He said a feeble western disturbance as a trough in lower and mid-tropospheric levels with its axis at 3.1 km above mean sea level was expected around February 5. "This is expected to result in cloud formation and light rains over isolated pockets of Jharkhand on February 5 and 6," he added.