A college student rubs her palms to keep herself warm, while others walk through the fog on Wednesday in Patna. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Dec. 14: Foggy morning and the slide in mercury column continued for the third consecutive day in the state capital, leaving school-goers shivering and flight services topsy-turvy.

The lowest temperature recorded here today was 10°C. The visibility at 7am was barely 50m. The lowest minimum temperature in the state was recorded at Gaya — 8ºC.

The night was no better in the state capital. It was cold and foggy. Around 9.15pm, the visibility was 100m.

The citizens, especially children, had a tough time braving the chill. “I feel bad while seeing off my daughter at bus stand at 7.15am. I can hardly see her boarding the bus amid dense fog. She shivers all the way from the home to the bus stand,” said Shukla Sharma, a resident of Kankerbagh.

The grown-ups are also feeling the “cold bite”. “It is almost freezing outside home. One cannot sit at home without switching on the heater either. The continuous fog cover has worsened the situation. I have changed the timing of my morning walks. Earlier, I used to start at 6. Now, I do not venture out before 7, said Harsh Sharan, a resident of Jagdeo Path.

Weathermen said the dip in mercury would continue irrespective of the foggy conditions. “The minimum temperature in the state capital today was 10ºC. As the maximum temperature is also remaining 6°C to 7ºC below normal, no heating is taking place during the daytime. The fog cover is also restricting the solar rays to reach the earth’s surface. This condition is likely to prevail for at least next two to three days. Fog blanket would prevail in the morning and days would remain cold. This is not a cold wave condition, but the temperature will continue to decline till the end of this month even if the fog vanishes,” said Animesh Chanda, the director of Patna Met department.

Abdul Sattar, the assistant professor of meteorology at Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa, said: “Extreme temperature conditions have been observed in most parts of the state in the past few days. The maximum temperature in many parts of north Bihar is veering around 8°C to 9ºC below normal. Foggy days with no or little sunshine would continue to prevail for at least next two to three days. The maximum temperature in north Bihar is likely to hover around 14°C to 16 ºC and the minimum temperature would be between 7ºC and 10 ºC.”

The weathermen’s forecast hints at disruption of flight services in the next few days like today. Airport sources said no flight was allowed to land at the airport before 3 this afternoon because of poor visibility. Jet Airways cancelled two flights — the Calcutta- Patna- Calcutta flight (S2-404) and the Lucknow-Mumbai-Bangalore-Calutta-Patna-Lucknow-Mumbai flight (9W 2513) because of foggy conditions.

Yesterday, flights did not land at Patna airport till 12noon. One flight was cancelled.

The fog has been intensifying and the mercury has been dipping steadily in the state capital over the past few days. Yesterday, the lowest temperature was 10.7°C. On Monday, it was 11°C.