Just when winter was on its way out, the weather god has thrown a zinger. The IMD’s Ranchi Meteorological Centre on Sunday issued an alert of moderate thunderstorm and hail in isolated pockets of Jharkhand for the next 48 hours, Monday and Tuesday.

Moderate thunderstorm and hail are likely in south and northeastern Jharkhand. South Jharkhand includes the three Kolhan districts and Khunti, among others.

This untimely event is likely due to the impact of a western disturbance passing through mid-troposphere coupled with three induced cyclonic circulation.

The Ranchi Met Centre on Sunday evening also issued two separate short-term weather alerts (called nowcast in Met parlance) of moderate thunderstorm in Latehar, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Gumla, Lohardaga and Ranchi (western parts) with wind speed reaching up to 30-40kmph.

“We are expecting thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and hailstorms at isolated places over Jharkhand during the next two days,” S.D. Kotal, director of the Ranchi Meteorological Centre, told The Telegraph.

Sunday’s satellite pictures revealed that apart from the western disturbance and three induced cyclonic circulations, a low-pressure trough was hovering over Bihar at 0.9km above mean sea level.

Light rain was seen at several places in Jharkhand on Sunday, including Jamshedpur and Ranchi. In both the cities, traces of rainfall were witnessed on Sunday.

Satgaon in Koderma district recorded 5mm of rain while Hariharganj in Palamau notched up 2.3mm. Manatu in Palamau district recorded 1.8mm of rain. Ramgarh and a couple of other places in northern Jharkhand recorded rainfall of 2mm.

The formation of clouds and moisture incursion into the atmosphere led to a warmer Sunday. Minimum readings rose significantly.

Ranchi on Sunday recorded a minimum temperature of 15.6°C, three notches above normal. Jamshedpur, on its part, notched a minimum of 17.3°C, two points above normal.

Daltonganj recorded a minimum temperature of 16.9°C, four points above normal. Bokaro recorded 16.2°C, five notches above normal.

Other districts in the state also indicated a rising trend as far as minimum temperatures went.