Girls share an umbrella in the rain on Tuesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Jan. 17: Two spells of sudden showers dampened the enthusiasm of students on their way to school early this morning. Keeping an umbrella in their school bags for the next two days would be a good idea, as the wet spell could continue for the next 48 hours.

The first spell started around 6.30am. Many students on their way to school mistook the cloud cover for winter fog, and were caught without an umbrella in the downpour.

“Like other days, I was wearing a sweater and a blazer today. As I was walking down to the bus stop, it suddenly started to rain. I was apprehensive that I would miss the bus, and started to run. But by the time, I reached the bus stop, I was half-drenched,” said Amit Kumar, a student of St Dominic Savio’s High School.

This spell lasted for about 10 minutes but the relief was short-lived. Rain returned once again at 7.45am. This time the precipitation lasted longer — around 20 minutes.

The clouds, accompanied by a cold breeze, covered the city till 2 in the afternoon. Later, it was bright and sunny. But the clouds and rain could return tomorrow, warned the weathermen.

Animesh Chanda, director, Patna Met department, said: “The rain today was caused by a cyclonic cover over Bihar and its neighbouring regions. Patna was the only district in the state to experience precipitation. It got around 0.5mm rainfall today.”

He added that the overcast weather condition is likely to prevail in the state capital over the next 48 hours. “Light rain could also be expected in Patna,” Chanda said.

The overcast condition could affect the temperature as well.

“The cloud cover would not allow the heat from the earth’s surface to escape. As a result, the minimum temperature would rise slightly. The cloud would also prevent the sun’s heat from reaching the earth’s surface. As a result the maximum temperature would fall slightly,” said the Met department director.

There could also be fog cover in some parts of the state in the morning.

The effect of the cloud cover could be observed today as well. Both maximum and minimum temperature deviated by a degree in comparison to yesterday. The maximum today was 22°C and the minimum temperature 10°C. Yesterday it was 23°C and 9°C respectively.