Sleepless in Ranchi: Residents experience 29°C temp at night

Ranchi: With a deficit of over 91% in rainfall activity during the month of June, Ranchi is experiencing record high night temperatures. In recorded history, the district has never witnessed such warm nights ever. The mean minimum temperature of hottest month (May) for the district is 23.4 degree C while the current minimum temperature is in the range of 28-29 degree Celsius.
According to climatological record for the period of 1991 to 2020, the mean maximum temperature of Ranchi for June is 33.9 degree C as against 41.4 degree C it recorded on Friday, which was at par with the highest ever recorded June temperature in the last decade. On June 8, 2014, similar high temperature (41.4 degree C) was recorded. The maximum temperature fell slightly by 0.6 degrees on Saturday to record 40.8 degrees. Despite the drop, the maximum temperature is still 7 notches above normal.
Despite recording decades highest day temperature, the major anomaly lies in the night temperature, which has been abnormally high this time. It was 28.8 degrees on Friday and Saturday around five notches above normal. According to historical record of India Meteorological Department, even on the hottest days of June, the night temperature has always remained below 23 degrees. The highest minimum temperature, in the month of June was 22.5 degree C recorded on June 12, 2016 followed by the next highest night temperature of 22.1 degrees on June 8, 2014 which was also the day when the highest day temperature of the previous decade was recorded.
According to IMD records, the highest day temperature ever recorded in Ranchi was 43.4 degree C, recorded on April 29, 1989.
Weather experts do not have an exact answer for the sharp rise in night temperature and leave it on the IMD to analyse and comment. One of the weather experts, unwilling to be named said that extreme weather events are occurring due to anthropogenic activities. “We do not have water bodies, forest distribution is uneven and we are adding carbon to the atmosphere, naturally the heat that we get in the day time will continue to remain trapped and with every passing year, night temperatures would not come down as it used to do earlier,” he said.
Scientist at IMD Ranchi Abhishek Anand said that the temperature was conducive for attracting monsoon activities and there would be no major change in the maximum and minimum temperatures in the next 48 hours. “We are expecting monsoon activities in the state from Monday onwards and only then the temperatures will come down,” he said.