Several districts of Jharkhand are feeling the humidity as the discomfort index went up as a result of sultry weather that is likely to continue for at least another 24 hours, warned weathermen.

However, predictions of pre-monsoon rains over Jharkhand from Thursday and an alert of thunderstorm accompanied by lightning issued for isolated pockets of Jharkhand brought some cause for cheer.

“The weather will continue to be humid for the next 24 hours due to westerly winds coupled with moisture incursion into the atmosphere,” said an officer at IMD's Ranchi Meteorological Centre.

The discomfort index, measured on the basis of temperature, wind and relative humidity, was 62 degrees in Ranchi, seven notches above normal, while in Jamshedpur it was 65 degrees, 10 points above the normal.

In Dhanbad, Bokaro, Deoghar, Daltonganj, Ramgarh, Giridih and Chatra, it hovered around 65 degrees on Wednesday, 10 notches above normal.

Hazaribagh, Koderma, Godda and Pakur recorded a discomfort index of 63 degrees, eight points above normal.

The average discomfort index of the state was as high as 64 degrees, nine degrees above normal, in the state on Wednesday.

Day temperatures in Daltonganj, Jamshedpur and several other places in southern Jharkhand hovered between 37 to 38 degrees Celsius for the past two days.

In Ranchi, Dumka and several other places in Santhal Pargana region, the day temperatures fluctuated between 35 to 36 degrees Celsius.

The director of the Ranchi Met Centre, S.D. Kotal, said, “Humidity levels usually rise just before the arrival of the southwest monsoon and this results in a rise in the level of discomfort index. Conditions are favourable. We are expecting pre-monsoon rains over Jharkhand from Thursday. An alert of thunderstorm accompanied by lightning was also issued for isolated pockets of Jharkhand,” Kotal told The Telegraph Online.

The Met office director also hinted at a drop in the day’s reading by two to three degrees Celsius in the next 48 hours.

Met data suggested that several places across the state, including Simdega , Gumla and Latehar experienced rains in the last 24 hours.

The highest rainfall of 15.4 mm was recorded at Balumath in Latehar.

Weathermen said three weather systems (or synoptic features ) were impacting the weather of the state - a cyclonic circulation over north Odisha, a low pressure trough over Chhattisgarh and a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.