A fresh cyclonic circulation prevailing over the Bay of Bengal is likely to result in widespread and isolated heavy rain in Jharkhand during the next 72- hours, said weathermen on Wednesday.

Head of Ranchi Met Centre Abhishek Anand said the system, extending upto 5.8 km above mean sea level, would bring more rainfall over the next three days till August 6.

The monsoon traffic at mean sea level was on Wednesday passing through Ganganagar , Narnaul Varanasi, Patna, Shanti Niketan ( West Bengal ) and culminating at North East Bay of Bengal.

Tuesday was exceptionally humid and sweaty in most parts of the state but intermittent rain on Wednesday due to the impact of the cyclonic circulation brought some relief. Jharkhand started feeling the impact of the cyclonic circulation since last evening.

According to Met data, between 8.30 pn of Tuesday and 8.30 am of Wednesday several places including Sikatia in Godda and Jamtara recorded over 100 mm of rain. Deoghar too recorded heavy rain of 67.7 mm. Several other places including Tenughat in Bokaro, Rajmahal in Sahibganj and Chakradharpur in West Singhbhum experienced moderate rainfall.

Jamshedpur and several other places in Kolhan, Khunti, Simdega and Ranchi experienced intermittent showers on Wednesday.

The forecast indicated heavy rain in isolated areas of north eastern and south western parts of the state till Friday

In Met parlance, 60mm or more rain in 24 hours qualifies as heavy.

The Met office also issued an alert of moderate lightning and thunderstorm activity till Friday.

Weathermen said the cyclonic circulation was over north Bay of Bengal. It is unlikely to intensify into a low-pressure area. But the system will lead to a wet spell for next three days.

So far this monsoon, Jharkhand as a whole actually recorded 612.9 mm against a normal of 566 mm, a surplus rain of eight per cent. The rain surplus figure is expected to rise in the next few days.