Children enjoy rides at eco-park on Sunday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Dec. 18: Residents of the state capital today came out of their quilts to bask in a sunny Sunday.

However, the powerful sunrays failed to keep the city warm because the capital has been witnessing day-cold condition for over a week now. The capital recorded a maximum of 14.4°C today, which was 10 degrees below normal.

According to Met office sources, day-cold condition prevails when the day temperature hovers below 16°C.

“Day-cold condition is more pinching because people tend to do most of their work during day,” said a source in the Met office.

“The maximum temperature in Patna today was recorded at 14.4°C and the minimum stood at 11.1°C. There would be a rising trend in the temperature in the next 48 hours. The minimum temperature would hover around 12°C and the maximum would remain around 18°C. Fog cover would prevail in the morning,” said C.S. Patil, meteorologist at Patna Met department.

Though the maximum temperature was recorded 10°C lower than the expected temperature for the day, the minimum temperature was 1°C higher than the normal.

The rise in the minimum temperature, accompanied by a sunny day, brought many citizens out of their homes. “It was a perfect Sunday. The sun had come out bright in the clear skies. It called for a warm afternoon stroll in the eco park. I took my family to the park. Though there was chill in the air, my entire family enjoyed the day out,” said Roshan Ranjan, a resident of SK Nagar.

As a precautionary measure against the cold, the state education department had declared state-wide closure of all government and private schools. R.S. Singh, the deputy director of the education department, today said: “All government and private schools across the state will remain closed till December 24. However, the high school examinations will be held according to the schedule between 9am and 4pm.”

The district administration issued similar directives for the schools in the city. “Children tend to suffer most because of the prevalent cold-wave conditions in the district. Therefore, under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, I have issued directives to all school authorities in Patna district to close the academic activities (except examination) from December 19 to December 25. Examinations may be conducted between 9am and 3pm,” said Sanjay Kumar Singh, the district magistrate of Patna.