Thank the westerly winds for the nip in the air.
The minimum temperature on Monday morning slipped below 17 degree Celsius for the first time post-monsoon. The dip in mercury was accompanied by mist and haze that enveloped the city.
As most of the offices and banks remained closed on Monday for Chhath, residents who ventured out to pay obeisance to the rising Sun witnessed a pleasant chill amid smog.
"The wind pattern is westerly. The mornings and evenings will be pleasant because of the nip in the air," said Sumendu Sengupta, Patna Met director. The condition is likely to prevail for the next few days, he said. However, it will take another 10 to 15 days, before winter officially arrives in the state, Sengupta added.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature in Patna will further plunge to 15 degrees Celsius by November 11 with maximum temperature coming down to 29 degrees Celsius.
Meteorologically it's winter when the minimum temperature remains 15 degrees Celsius or less.
Sengupta said: "The dew in the night and the nip in the morning are signs that the weather is in transition stage from post-monsoon to winter. The minimum temperature will hover between 15 and 17 degrees Celsius for a week and gradually decline thereafter," he said adding: "The difference between day and night temperatures would be around 14 degrees Celsius."
Last year, winter arrived in Patna in the second week of December. Normally, brumal conditions in Bihar set in around the last week of November or first week of December.
Earlier, weathermen had predicted winter to set in Bihar around November 10. A delay of about 15 days is attributed to the two cyclones - Kyant and Nada - originating in the Bay of Bengal in the last two weeks that brought rain in southern India, Gangetic Bengal, coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and other northeastern states.
"For the past few years, winter had arrived late. This time, we are already experiencing a chill," said Avinash Kumar, 42, a chartered accountant living in Ashiana Nagar.
Homemaker Sucheta Sinha said Monday afternoon was very pleasant. "The Sun's warmer and the heat we were feeling a week back has subsided. For the past two days we have stopped switching on the AC."
There are a few who plan to wear warm clothes during morning walks. "If the weather remains like this, I have to take out my sweaters during morning walks because I cannot discontinue something that I have been doing for the past 20 years," said retired banker Vijay Prakash.
With winter knocking on the door, health experts advised precaution because of the difference between the day and night temperatures.
"Such fluctuations in mercury levels increase risk of people catching cough and cold. The fall in temperature leads to smog as pollutants remain closer to the surface and do not disburse in the atmosphere. People are more vulnerable to respiratory diseases," said Prakash Singh, pulmonologist, Paras HMRI Hospital.
