The day cold condition prevailed in the city on Sunday, a day after the lowest maximum temperature of this winter was recorded.

The Sunday was a touch warmer on record at 16.5°C compared to Saturday’s 16.4°C, but the bite of cold was no different. The minimum temperature stood at 9.4°C, two degrees less than Saturday.

No respite is in sight from the day cold conditions at least for the next couple of days. The skies would remain overcast till Tuesday, said the local Met office.

The city skies remained gloomy in the first-half of the day on Sunday. Sun was seen only after 1pm. Similar were the conditions on Saturday.

On Saturday, the city had reeled from day cold conditions, as the maximum temperature stood at eight notches lower than the normal. Dry westerly winds blew at an average speed of 14-16kmph, which was comparatively high at this time of the year.

The residents are tired of short span of sunshine — barely four hours as the sunset timing in this time of the year is around 5.30pm.

“I shivered almost throughout the day. Normally, winter starts showing signs of departure by the last week of January but it seems to be getting worse with every passing day this year,” said R.P. Jha, a resident of Kankerbagh.

A veteran weatherman in the city claimed that the little difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures is contributing to the discomfort factor.

“The maximum temperature has remained around 16°C and the minimum has been around 10°C over the past two days. The difference between the average day and night temperatures has been merely five to six notches. Thus, there has been hardly any difference in cooling in the day and night hours. As most people sleep in the night, they do not get to feel the cold much. But that is not the case in the daytime because people have to venture out,” said the weatherman.

The low daytime temperature often leads to day cold condition. Such a condition is said to be prevailing at a place when the maximum temperature remains six to 10°C below the normal temperature, accompanied by fog or cloud cover.

The bite of cold would have been milder had there been only day cold condition. A wind-chill factor, persisting in the city since Saturday, has worsened the situation. Weathermen have attributed the wind-chill factor to cold breeze from Jammu and Kashmir because of an approaching western disturbance. Wind-chill factor is the perceived decrease in air temperature felt by the body on exposed skin owing to air flow. “A western disturbance lying over Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday is expected to approach Bihar by February 4. Accordingly, light rainfall is expected in the region on Tuesday,” said P.N. Chaudhary, meteorologist, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Patna.

Residents should not be worried over the forecast of rain because Chaudhary claimed that the city could come out of the prevailing overcast and chilly conditions only after a spell of rainfall.

“After a short span of rainfall, the city would witness dense fog cover in the morning for two to three days. Thereafter, the skies would become clear. There would be gradual rise in temperature as well,” he said.

Weathermen said the departure of winter is expected only around second week of February. In broader terms, winter is considered to be departing if the minimum temperature remains four to five notches above normal for five to six consecutive days at this time of the year (after third week of January).