Scorching heat, coupled with humidity because of dominating easterly winds, pushed up the discomfort index in most parts of Jharkhand on Sunday.

The discomfort index, which is measured on the basis of temperature, wind and relative humidity in Ranchi, was 60 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal, while in Jamshedpur it was 64 degrees Celsius, nine notches above normal.

In Dhanbad, Bokaro, Deoghar, Daltonganj, Giridih and Chatra, it hovered around 65 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

Jharkhand’s districts Hazaribagh, Koderma, Godda and Pakur recorded a discomfort index of around 63 degrees Celsius, eight points above normal.

“A trough stretched from northeast Assam to southeast Madhya Pradesh across Jharkhand and Gangetic Bengal at 0.9km above sea level has resulted in a shift

in wind pattern. Until, Saturday afternoon the wind pattern in most parts of Jharkhand was north-westerly, but since Saturday evening it changed to easterly resulting in moisture incursion into the atmosphere,” said a duty officer at IMD’s Ranchi Met Centre.

The Ranchi Meteorological Centre issued alert of thunderstorm, rain, hailstones and squall (speed up to 50-60kmph) in northern, southern and central Jharkhand, where the upper-air trough had resulted in cloud formation on Sunday.

The Ranchi Met Centre also issued an alert of thunder, lightning and light rain in north-eastern districts in the next 24 hours.

The day temperatures have been rising in several places across the state, including Jamshedpur and Daltonganj (where the mercury had crossed 40 degrees Celsius) in the last few days, however, on Sunday the change in wind pattern checked the Celsius march.