Heavy rain forecast for 17 dists, yellow alert issued

Ranchi: Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued yellow alerts on Tuesday, forecasting heavy rain in isolated areas across 17 districts of Jharkhand on Wednesday.
Met officials said the fresh bout of rains being experienced since Monday will continue till Friday as the low-pressure area formed over west-central Bay of Bengal promises to bring in more rain across the state over the week.
Precipitation between 70 mm-110 mm is expected across Kolhan, Santhal Pargana and North and South Chotanagpur divisions on Wednesday. Rain coverage is expected to expand further, affecting nearly the entire state of Jharkhand on Friday. “There are easterly components in the atmosphere over Jharkhand at present. This can lead to severe thunderstorm and lightening over the next few days. The spell is likely to pull down the daytime mercury level,” Abhishek Anand, director in-charge of Ranchi met office, said.
The weather, which has taken a turn in the state since Monday evening, prevailed on Tuesday as well. Jamshedpur recorded 11 mm rain while Bokaro recorded 8.6 mm till the evening. Chaibasa recorded 12.1 mm, Baharagora recorded 33.5 mm, Latehar recorded 14.5 mm, Seraikela got 15.5 mm and Jagannathpur received 7.5 mm rain till the evening, the IMD’s Ranchi office said.
The fresh bout of rain comes at a time when the southwest monsoon is entering its last leg in the state. The spell of heavy rain over the past fortnight has made up for the rainfall deficit in the state. As on Tuesday morning, the state’s rainfall deficit was around 4%. Jharkhand had recorded 948 mm rain till Tuesday against the normal average of 984.7 mm at this time of the year.