Motorists switch on their headlights on the Chitkohra railway overbridge owing to dense fog around 9am on Thursday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

An uncomfortable mix of overcast and chilly weather condition awaits Republic Day parade this Sunday.

The western disturbance that has led to heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir over the past 48 hours is likely to reach Bihar by January 26.

The city witnessed similar overcast conditions on Thursday as well when clouds reigned supreme till 1pm. The sun could be spotted after that but the conditions remained hazy.

Weathermen attributed the reason behind the “partly cloudy sky” to continuous moisture incursion through a low-pressure area stretching from the Arabian Sea to Bihar. Wind in the upper layer of atmosphere however prevented rain in the region. “Though the cloud cover was strong enough to cause good rainfall but winds blowing at an average speed of 70-90kmph at a height of 3-4km above ground dispersed the clouds. This prevented any precipitation,” said R.K. Giri, scientist, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Patna.

The meteorologist claimed that though the wind speed was higher in the upper layer of atmosphere, it was blowing at very slow speed of 1-2kmph at ground surface. No rainfall occurred anywhere across the state.

The Met office has predicted similar weather conditions for Friday as well. “The low-pressure area from the central Arabian Sea is expected to weaken by Friday morning. This would reduce the moisture flow, which, in turn, would weaken the clouds. The entire day would remain partly cloudy though,” said Giri.

The expected minimum temperature on Friday is expected to be around 11 degrees Celsius and the maximum is expected to be around 19 degrees Celsius. It’s expected to be a cloudy day with dense fog in the morning. IMD headquarters in Delhi, in its Thursday evening bulletin, forecast dense fog (visibility less than 200 metres) at a few places in the state till January 25.

Flight operations at the city airport were not much affected due to the overcast conditions. The first flight on Thursday landed here about 1pm, which is around the same time for arrivals being observed these days. Sources in the Met office claimed that the required visibility of around 1,200 metres is expected to be achieved around 12.30pm on Friday as well.

The district administration has already prohibited running of schools before 9am through an order issued on Tuesday. However, schoolchildren and their parents were still finding it difficult to step out of homes in the morning.

“The rickshaw for my daughter knocks our door around 8am but today it was still foggy at that time with a chill breeze. It was due to such cold conditions that I did not send my daughter to school on Wednesday but I cannot do it often as she would miss out on the syllabus,” said Neha Singh of Jagdeo Path.