Computational investigations are reported on the local flow and heat transfer characteristics from staggered, multiple circular air jets impinging on a flat surface with effusion holes. The geometrical and flow parameters for the computational study are chosen as per the experimental arrangement of Cho and Rhee J Turbomachinery 123:601-608, (14) so as to explain salient features observed in these experiments. The two peaks in the Nusselt number observed in the case of H/D = 6 and three peaks in the case of H/D = 2 are attributed to the flow characteristics such as primary vortices forming an up-wash region, followed by secondary vortices resulting in a secondary stagnation zone. The magnitude of local peak in heat transfer increases up to 88% with increasing values of D/d from 0.5 to 1.5 at Re = 10,000. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.