Light cloud cover over Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Feb. 15: Residents of many parts of the state woke up to a surprise today morning.

A blanket of cloud enveloped the capital and many places in northern, eastern and western Bihar today.

Attributing the partly cloudy conditions to the impact of western disturbances, Met director Animesh Chanda, said: “A few places in Bihar may witness light rainfall in the next 48 hours.”

The disturbance originated in north-western India and was moving eastward due to which parts of Bihar came under its impact.

The partly cloudy condition today led to an increase in the minimum temperature level, which was around 17 degree Celsius in Patna, about 5 degrees above normal, Chanda said.

He added there would be a fall in the maximum temperature because of the impact of the ongoing weather condition.

The cloudy condition was accompanied by a light surface wind, blowing at a speed of 10 to 15 km/hour that brought down the day temperature.

Cloudy conditions lead to increase in minimum temperature level, as the cloud cover does not allow the heat radiated by the earth surface to escape into the upper part of the atmosphere, during night.

As the heat is trapped in the lower level of the atmosphere during night, minimum temperature, which is generally recorded before the sunrises, goes up.

Similarly, the cloudy conditions do not allow the sunrays to enter the earth surface leading to drop in the daytime temperature.

Chanda said there was no indication of the present cloudy condition getting worse, but in case it happens, the cloud cover would become dense and more places would witness rainfall.

Though it had not rained in most parts of the state till Tuesday afternoon, farmers would pray that the condition intensifies so that it rains. A shower at this time would be a boon for the standing rabi crops.

“If it rains now, farmers would be saved from bearing the irrigation cost as it is now time to go for the fourth irrigation of standing rabi crop like wheat and maize. Rainfall at this time would save them the cost incurred on irrigation,” said agriculture department specialist Anil Kumar Jha.

He said rainfall would also add to the moisture content in the environment, which would be beneficial for the standing crop.