A light drizzle amind an overcast sky replaced the dry and crisp northwesterly winds across Jharkhand on Thursday with the weather taking a sharp U-turn because of the

severe cyclonic storm Nivar which originated from the Bay of Bengal and had landfall in the Tamil Nadu coast on Wednesday night.

Several places including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Daltonganj and Bokaro woke up to overcast conditions on Thursday. Some parts of northern Jharkhand, including Latehar, Garhwa, Godda and Chatra, experienced light showers on Thursday.

IMD's Ranchi Meteorological Centre also issued a forecast of light rain in central Jharkhand on Thursday and Friday. Deputy director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre Abhishek Anand said easterly winds were dominating over Jharkhand and that such a pattern was expected to continue for another 48 hours.

"Jharkhand is under the influence of the severe cyclonic storm Nivar which is resulting in cloud formation and heavy moisture incursion. An induced cyclonic circulation over north-west Rajasthan was also impacting Jharkhand's weather. The twin weather systems would result in light rain at isolated places over Jharkhand during the next 24 hours, " said Anand.

The Met department forecast also suggested a gradual fall in night temperature (by two to three degree Celsius) after 48-hours.

Because of the adverse weather, days have become cooler while night temperatures have increased by a few notches. Statistics available from the Met department revealed that apart from Ranchi, night readings also witnessed a rise in Jamshedpur, Daltonganj, Bokaro, Dhanbad and many other districts.