Pana: Tuesday was the coldest day of the current winter season in the city with the minimum temperature plummeting to 7.1°C , exactly 1°C less than what it was on Monday.
The cold and dry westerly was blowing from early morning, forcing several morning walkers to remain indoors. The wind speed was around 8km per hour, and thick fog blanked out the sun.
"I didn't go for the morning walk today as it was quite cold and everyone in the family advised me against venturing out in such conditions," said Santosh Singh, a private tutor who lives in the Khajpura.
Retired government official S.N. Sinha didn't go out to his milkman's home in the same locality from where he buy fresh milk every morning.
"I couldn't gather the courage to move out in such chilly conditions. Today I used milk powder for my morning tea instead," he said.
Patna Met office scientist Anand Shankar told The Telegraph that the weather was likely to remain more or less similar in the next three-dour days.
"Mornings would witness fog and it would clear by afternoon as strong westerly is blowing these days," Shankar said, adding that the fog clearing out was producing conducive conditions for drop in the minimum temperature.
Fog traps part of the heat radiated by the earth's surface, not allowing much drop in the minimum temperature, whereas a clear night allows the heat to escape, leading to fall in the minimum temperature.
Another official in the local Met office said that the maximum temperature could go up by 1°C and the minimum could see an equal drop in the next three-four days.
The cold on Tuesday was not limited to the state capital. Chhapra, around 70m northwest of Patna, was the coldest place in Bihar on Tuesday and the mercury in the Saran district headquarters town dropped to 6.4°C. Even Bhagalpur (minimum of 7.3°C), Muzaffarpur 8.4°C were quite cold. The chill, however, is less this year compared to the last winter season. On January 14 last year, Patna had recorded a minimum of 4.8°C. On January 13, 2017, Gaya had recorded a minimum temperature of 4.2°C.
