Jharkhand registered 134 per cent surplus rainfall in March following scattered showers in parts of the state since Thursday and a fair amount of precipitation between March 16 and March 21, a weather official said. The eastern state had faced 100 per cent rain deficit in November, January and February.
The situation was slightly better in December with 96 per cent deficit rainfall. The state recorded 33.2mm rain in March this year against a normal of 14.2 mm. In past 24 hours, Ranchi city recorded 5.2mm rain, while Jamshedpur registered 9.2mm and Simdega received 10.5 mm rainfall.
“The state has been witnessing spells of very light to light rainfall since Thursday due to a trough that runs from Sub-Himalayan West Bengal to north Odisha. A similar weather pattern is likely in parts of Jharkhand till Saturday,” said Abhishek Anand, in-charge of Ranchi Meteorological Centre.
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A spell of dry weather is expected from Sunday again, Anand said. Of the total 24 districts, 17 districts in March this year received large excess rain (above 60 per cent), while four districts registered excess downpour (between 20 per cent and 59 per cent ).
Two districts received normal rainfall and only Garhwa district recorded deficient rain during the month. The surplus rain may damage Rabi crops that are about to be harvested, Dr Ramesh Kumar, agro-meteorologist of Birsa Agricultural University (BAU), Ranchi, told PTI.
