PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Jan 10: Jharkhand is in the grip of an intense cold with the minimum temperature plummeting to bone-biting 3°C in Gumla today.
As per IMD’s Met statistics Gumla was the coldest place in Jharkhand today as it recorded the state’s lowest minimum reading of 3°C.
Chatra was the second coldest place with the mercury sliding to 4.1 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave conditions were prevailing in both of these places today.
The minimum temperature further dropped in the capital Ranchi which today recorded 7°C. The night reading also witnessed a drop in Jamshedpur where the observatory recorded 9.4°C today.
Daltonganj today recorded a minimum temperature of 6.6°C while Bokaro recorded 7.5°C. Both Garhwa and Hazaribagh recorded minimum temperatures of around 6°C today while Dhanbad recorded 6.5°C and Khunti 6.7°C .
“The chill has intensified owing to the strong flow of cold and dry north-westerly winds. The cold wave is prevailing in north India because snowfall has upped the freeze quotient in the east. The cold wave is prevailing in isolated pockets today,” said a duty officer at Ranchi Meteorological Centre.
According to forecast, the minimum reading would not see significant variations in next 24 hours, thereafter it is expected to rise by 2-3 degree Celsius in subsequent few days.
Night temperatures in several other districts, including Koderma, Deoghar and Simdega, dropped in 24 hours.
