Ranchi: Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday issued an orange alert for all 24 districts in the state on Friday and Saturday.IMD daily weather bulletin on Thursday said that the state is likely to experience moderate thunderstorm and lightning activities accompanied with strong wind gusting up to 40-50 kmph on both the days.“Along with moderate thunderstorm, lightning and wind across the state on both the days ,heavy rain is expected at isolated places over East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, Simdega, Khunti and Gumla districts on Saturday,” the bulletin said.The met department issued a yellow alert forecasting heavy rain in East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Simdega, Khunti, Gumla, Ranchi and Lohardaga districts on Sunday.Several places across the state received rain on Thursday. Ranchi recorded 2.8 mm rain. Similarly, Jamshedpur recorded 5.7 mm, while Daltonganj recorded 29 mm, the highest in the state on Thursday.The rain brought down the daytime temperatures on Thursday, with Ranchi recording 31 degrees Celsius, marking a 0.8 degrees Celsius dip in the past 24 hours. Jamshedpur recorded 33 degrees Celsius, marking a 1.5 degrees Celsius dip from Wednesday. Daltonganj recorded 29.8 degrees Celsius, a 5.6 degrees Celsius decrease from Wednesday. Bokaro recorded a daytime temperature of 34.1 degrees Celsius, marking a 1 degree Celsius dip.The met department, issuing an extended-range forecast till July 16 on Friday, said that the state is likely to receive normal to above-normal rainfall in the next two weeks.Notably, the southwest monsoon, which hit the state on June 12, covered the entire state on Tuesday after 18 days, marking slower progress of the monsoon current this year compared with the earlier years. The state recorded a 54% rainfall deficit in June.
