Cyclone Amphan, which made landfall on Wednesday, caused a major drop in temperature across Jharkhand, especially Ranchi – a city that was simmering with soaring mercury level even on Tuesday, officials from the State Meteorological Centre said. While disaster management teams geared up to manage the effect of the cyclone here, Amphan only caused moderate rains and wind at a comfortable speed, they added.
The day temperature fell by 5-6 degree Celsius below the normal on Wednesday due to cloudy weather and light to moderate rainfall across the state.
In Ranchi, the day temperature dropped by 11 degree Celsius compared to the temperature recorded on Tuesday. Ranchi recorded maximum 24.2 degree Celsius on Wednesday against 35 degree Celsius on Tuesday. Similarly, the mercury level fell by seven degree Celsius in Jamshedpur to 25 degree Celsius on Wednesday from 32.6 degree Celsius on Tuesday, MET officials said.
Major impact of the cyclone was witnessed in Southeastern districts including East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharswan districts and northeast districts such as Sahebganj, Pakur, Godda, Jamtara, Dhanbad and Bokaro where moderate rainfall was recorded along with wind speed of 40-50kmph. Jamshedpur recorded wind speed of 43kmph and it also registered highest rainfall of 41mm.
The remaining districts of the state including Ranchi experienced light rain and wind speed of 20-25 kmph. According to figures with the MET centre, Ranchi registered only 0.8mm rainfall till 5.30pm on Wednesday. "The weather conditions will remain cyclonic till Thursday afternoon. We can expect clear weather with higher temperature from Friday morning," said MET Director, SD Kotal.
Kotal said the cyclone made landfall around 2.30pm between Digha and Hatiya Island, around 350km from capital Ranchi, and the intensity of the cyclone was around 150-160kmph. "There are no warnings for Jharkhand in connection with Amphan. We had predicted the same," he said.
However, Ranchi administration on Wednesday issued a guideline in wake of the cyclone. Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray sent out alerts to all block development officers (BDO) and circle officers (CO) and asked them to make arrangements for homeless people and the ones living in thatched accomodations.
The district also issued helpline numbers to address emergencies.
